Trump asked Musk to ease Starshield restrictions in Ukraine — CNBC

In the United States, President Donald Trump asked SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk to ease restrictions on the operation of Starshield, the military version of the Starlink satellite system, in Ukraine. CNBC reports, citing U.S. officials and relaying a report by The Wall Street Journal.

System operation after the conversation

According to The Wall Street Journal, Starshield began operating more normally on Thursday shortly after Trump’s phone call with Musk. U.S. and Ukrainian officials told the newspaper that Ukraine relies on this system in its war against the Russian Federation, an aggressor state.

Later, Trump did not directly confirm whether he had called Musk. Speaking to reporters near the White House before traveling to a campaign rally in Iowa, he said it did not matter whether he himself or someone else had called. According to the U.S. president, what mattered was that Musk had restored the system’s operation.

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Senators’ reaction

Earlier, The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk, who had criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, ordered Starlink’s operation to be slowed down. According to the newspaper, Trump and Musk discussed this decision shortly after information about the change became public. At the same time, Trump repeatedly denied his involvement in the restrictions and said he did not know whether Musk himself had made the decision.

Republican Senator John Cornyn said he did not believe Musk could have restricted Starlink without at least the tacit consent of the White House. Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal initiated a review of the circumstances surrounding the unannounced degradation of SpaceX satellite technology for Ukraine. The White House and an email address associated with Musk did not respond to CNBC’s requests for comment on the report about the conversation between Trump and Musk.