The relationship between Mr. Trump and tech industry power brokers was built on money and the promise of deregulation, with Mr. Musk in the middle of it all.

With Musk now potentially out of the picture, a new tech exec could slide into the president's DMs and the Oval Office.

It would have been another banner day for Silicon Valley’s blossoming alliance with Washington — if only President Donald Trump and Elon Musk hadn’t been attacking each other online. While the two men traded barbs on their respective social networks,