Elon Musk in major U-turn as he plans to back JD Vance for president

Elon Musk is reportedly rethinking his plans to launch a third US political party in favour of putting his billions behind JD Vance in the next presidential race. The world's richest man announced his intention of turning US politics on its head through his 'America Party' following a public spat with Donald Trump in which he accused the president of being "in the Epstein files". However, Musk has since decided the move would risk alienating the Republican contacts he gained during his brief stint in Trump's administration and is instead planning to take a backseat role in the 2028 election, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The billionaire SpaceX owner began his well-publicised foray into US politics by donating almost $300 million to Trump's campaign last year, but a 'bromance' between the pair imploded in June after Musk labelled Trump's tax and spending bill "a disgusting abomination". He could now join the ranks of tech figures putting their financial heft behind Vice President JD Vance as Trump's successor, reports suggest, with Roku CEO Anthony Wood and Palantir CEO Peter Thiel among those already behind the White House hopeful.

Musk's plan to slam the brakes on his 'America Party' idea is directly linked to his desire to appease Trump's VP ahead of a potential campaign in 2028, the Journal reported, and is instead shifting his focus back to his various business interests.

It comes after Vance publicly urged the billionaire to make amends with Trump - suggesting he had made a "mistake" in starting a row with the president.

Speaking to The Gateway Pundit, the VP described the falling-out as a "minor, little disagreement" and advised Musk to return to the Republican fold, warning that the Democrats were unlikely to welcome him back to the political left.

"My hope is that it just kinda cools down a bit," he said. "My argument to Elon is like, you're not going to be on the left ... even if you wanted to be - and he doesn't - they're not going to have you back. That ship has sailed. I really think it's a misake for him to try to break from the president."

Musk's progress in establishing the 'America First' party has stalled since his grand announcement in July, with proponents of the idea, including Libertarian National Committee Chair Steven Nekhaila, admitting they had heard nothing in the intervening weeks.

"It's almost an eerie silence," Mr Nekhaila said. "It doesn't seem like anything has been in action, neither at the state level or at the ground level."

Musk's renewed focus on his companies comes as Tesla reports an annual drop in shares of more than 18% after posting its worst quarterly sales decline in over a decade in July.

He also warned of "a few rough quarters" linked to the end of support for electric vehicles by Trump's administration.

Without commenting further on the reports, Musk said in an X post: "Nothing [The Wall Street Journal] says should ever be thought of as true".