On both sides of the Atlantic! Elon Musk threatens special relationship between Washington and London

Tesla CEO and co-founder Elon Musk called for new elections in the United Kingdom, which is the latest sign that the incoming administration of Donald Trump could pose a problem for the government of Keir Starmer, writes Bloomberg.

Musk, a close adviser to Trump, who will take office on January 20, wrote a series of posts on the social network X, which he owns, questioning Starmer's career before entering politics.

Musk called for the release of right-wing Tommy Robinson (leader of the far-right movement English Defence League) and said that only Nigel Farage's Reform Party can "save" Britain.

In response to the publication of a new opinion poll showing a decline in support for Starmer's Labour government, which won a landslide victory in the general election on July 4, Musk called for a new election. Starmer, who has a large parliamentary majority, is not required to call an election for another four and a half years.

Musk's attacks on social media are the latest in a series of criticisms of the British government. After Trump gave Musk a key role in his new administration as head of government efficiency, Musk's repeated attacks on a key American ally threaten to damage the so-called special relationship between Britain and the United States.

It is not only Starmer who has been targeted by Musk: he has also frequently criticized the left-wing German government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, supporting the far-right "Alternative for Germany" (AfG) ahead of the February snap election. Musk even called Scholz an “incompetent fool“.

The British prime minister has repeatedly stressed that the relationship between the two countries is bigger than the personalities who lead them.

Trump hosted Starmer for a two-hour dinner at his New York City mansion in September before securing his second term as president, and told reporters before the meeting that he found Starmer “very nice”. However, his legal team later accused Labor of “clear foreign interference” and illegal foreign contributions to the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris in a report to the Federal Election Commission.

Musk's antagonistic rhetoric began over the summer with criticism of Starmer for “his failure to handle” with the wave of unrest fueled by anti-immigrant sentiment after the murders of three girls were wrongly attributed to a young asylum seeker. Musk has repeatedly clashed with the government over free speech and economic growth, while also expressing support for Farage and Robinson.

Robinson was jailed last year after pleading guilty to contempt of court for spreading false accusations against a Syrian refugee. Several posts by Musk have called for his release, including one prominently displayed at the top of his profile and another saying the US should apply “economic and diplomatic pressure to resolve this issue”.

For now, Starmer and his government have ignored Musk's attacks and downplayed the threat from the Reform Party. Starmer has a large parliamentary majority and is unlikely to lose a vote of no confidence in the House of Commons, which would be necessary to trigger a snap election. The next general election in the UK is due in 2029.