SpaceX CEO Elon Musk ordered a slowdown of the military-grade version of the Starlink communication satellite network that Ukraine uses in its war with Russia, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing U.S. officials and people familiar with the matter.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday the Trump administration had no foreknowledge of the slowdown and did not request it. The order, however, came from inside the White House, Reuters reported.
The restriction, which began last week, left some Ukrainian offensive and interceptor drones virtually inoperable, according to The Journal.
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The slowdown reportedly came as Mr. Musk and President Trump expressed anger over Ukrainian strikes on Russian diesel refineries, which Mr. Trump blamed for high energy prices. But most analysts say the U.S.-Iran war has had a greater impact on prices.
When the slowdown became public, an immediate wave of finger-pointing ensued. Some U.S. officials told the news outlet that Mr. Musk acted on his own and that Mr. Trump gave no specific order.
Mr. Trump said last week he did not believe he or Mr. Musk was responsible and told reporters Monday he didn’t know who ordered the slowdown, but “I would like to find out.”
The Washington Times has reached out to the White House for comment.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters Tuesday that the U.S. had not pulled anything back and had made no directives, adding that Starlink has the option to make decisions under its terms of service.
Mr. Musk said last week that any limits on speed or usage are decided by the U.S. military and ultimately the president.
He and Mr. Trump discussed the decision in a phone call soon after the slowdown became public, while the president was campaigning, two people told The Journal.
One person familiar with the matter said that Mr. Musk discussed the cap beforehand with senior administration officials, including Mr. Trump.
Ukraine’s top diplomat in Washington, Denys Sienik, said Tuesday that the country was still “waiting for the official response from contacts with the Pentagon and SpaceX at the leaders level to understand what has happened, but also to understand whether the connection has been restored or will be restored.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s public warnings — declaring that Ukrainians would die without the restoration of unrestricted services — triggered an informal internal White House investigation to determine who authorized the directive.
During the uproar, SpaceX representatives called White House officials to agree on a message that the company and the administration had coordinated before the cap, the Journal reported.
The throttling follows political friction over Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries.
Both Mr. Trump and Mr. Musk recently expressed public frustration over Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian diesel refineries, with Mr. Trump saying on Oct. 10 that his administration told Mr. Zelenskyy not to hit refineries.
“He better damn well stop,” Mr. Trump said.
Mr. Musk publicly responded on social media, saying “Zelenskyy has gone too far.”
Four days later, the speed cap went into effect.
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