Hello from London,

Buckle up. Hell hath no fury like a tycoon spurned. The latest episode of the Musk-Trump psychodrama is under way. The world’s richest man really is mad with the world’s most powerful one. Elon Musk is infuriated by the deficit-expanding economy bill that Donald Trump signed into law on July 4th. (We don’t much like it either, by the way. Read our analysis). As a result, Mr Musk has said he’s launching a new political outfit. Its goal? Freedom, hell yeah. Its real goal? To punish Mr Trump and Republicans for shunning him.

Perhaps the South African-born tycoon dreams of changing the constitution. Those set on colonising Mars, after all, are not shy, retiring types. Still, if he isn’t planning to run for president himself, he has other plans. He vows to deploy some of his billions to target specific, tight Senate and other swing races that determine overall election outcomes. He has avoided any temptation to call his new movement the Swingers. Instead he has plumped for the America Party. 

My guess is that Mr Trump—who hasn’t yet responded as I type—won’t care too much. As others have observed, Mr Trump eventually falls out with everyone, from wives to lawyers to political best buddies. (Our new article takes a data-heavy look at what becomes of his enemies in Congress.) The next elections that matter, the midterms, are more than a year away. Given ridiculously short and dramatic news cycles, that’s a political eternity. Meanwhile Mr Musk’s business empire, especially the space side, is reliant on government contracts. Rivals, such as the newly affable Jeff Bezos, may find business opportunities opening up. Mr Trump has ways to hurt his rival.

What about the political power of Mr Musk’s money and of X, his social-media platform? I think both can be overrated. If you are only as strong as your most recent foray into politics, then Mr Musk is an expensive flop. His big-spending efforts to influence a judicial race in Wisconsin, in the spring, were laughably poor. The conservative candidate he backed lost badly. Finally, the Republicans could easily portray Mr Musk as a spoiler, only helping the Democrats. That looks awkward for a tycoon who was devoted, in 2024, to defeating the Democrats.

What about the meat of Mr Musk’s case, and his alarm about the deficit? We have just published a new article on the state of the American economy. Investors, employers and others may be judging that it is in fine fettle. So far the effects of Mr Trump’s on-again-off-again tariffs are hard to spot in the data. But look closer and there are reasons to be concerned: the Big Beautiful Bill is storing up big trouble for the years ahead. And trouble could be coming soon, too. This week, unless the deadline is postponed again, Mr Trump’s high tariffs are due to be imposed on trading partners around the world. 

Thanks for all of your messages after I asked for your views of America’s 249th birthday. Few of you were in the mood for a party. Don Rabbe worries that this could “very well be the last celebration of America’s independence”. Evelyne Webb, Janice Murota and Garry Papers each point to evidence of a waning, faltering democracy. Janice says she wears black “in mourning for what was once a great nation”. Stefano Marotta, from Italy, suggests that it falls increasingly to Europeans to promote democratic values as, “for some time we will have to forget the United States”. I find that too negative, Stefano. I’m instead giving the last word to Ken Cheung , who reckons that when Americans occasionally go astray, they have always been “able to self-correct…and eventually got back to the right direction.” That’s the thing about democracy: it often falters, but in time it will come good. For next week I’d like to hear your views about Mr Musk’s America Party: will it reshape politics or sink without a trace? Write to me at economisttoday@economist.com.