News coverage and retrospective summaries show that the Musk–Trump relationship followed the arc Friedberg described.

After Musk savaged Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” as a “disgusting abomination” and even floated creating an “America Party,” Trump threatened Musk’s contracts and mused about deporting him, producing a very public rupture between MAGA and its most visible tech ally.(washingtonpost.com) However, Musk later deleted his most incendiary posts (including Epstein insinuations) and publicly expressed regret, while Trump began calling Musk a “good person” who’d had a “bad moment,” signaling a deliberate de‑escalation.(en.wikipedia.org)

By August 2025, Musk was again praising Trump and Vice President JD Vance and explicitly backing Trump’s law‑and‑order moves in Washington, which contemporaneous coverage framed as a “possible reconciliation” and renewed alignment with the MAGA project.(thedailybeast.com) The Trump–Musk feud entry now characterizes the overall status as “Reunited” and notes that relations “began to thaw” as Musk reshared Trump posts and Trump publicly vouched for him.(en.wikipedia.org)

The clearest confirmation of Friedberg’s “mutual dependence” language came at Charlie Kirk’s September 21 memorial: Trump and Musk sat together in their first joint appearance since the blow‑up, and multiple reports recount Musk telling Trump, “If we don’t hang together we will surely hang separately,” and saying he was “proud to sit with my president tonight” while calling for GOP unity.(nypost.com) Business Insider likewise reports Trump insisting Musk “doesn’t have a choice” but to side with the GOP and that MAGA leaders view his tech influence as vital for their future success—an explicit acknowledgment of mutual reliance between the political and tech camps.(businessinsider.com)

There are still substantive policy tensions, but by late 2025 the feud has clearly cooled and the two sides have publicly re‑aligned around shared political goals, matching Friedberg’s prediction.