It was barely an hour after Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt last summer when Elon Musk declared his full support. The post on X, his social media platform, landed fast and took off like one of Musk's rockets: "I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery."

Musk—once ridiculed by Trump for leading companies that made "driverless cars that crash" and "rocketships to nowhere"— slapped a red MAGA hat on his profile photo, lit up X with pro-Trump memes, and used his platform's reach to carpet-bomb swing states with political propaganda dressed as engagement. By sundown, Trump's digital war room was headquartered on X, and Musk looked like the unofficial campaign manager .

Ten months later, he detonated that alliance in real time .

Every political str

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