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Defense & Security · Europe

Trump asks Musk to restore Starshield speed in Ukraine

The Wall Street Journal reported that Donald Trump told Elon Musk he was dissatisfied with Starshield speed restrictions and discussed restoring service during a call the day before the report. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the U.S. government ordered the limits, while Trump and Pete Hegseth denied imposing them.

AI-assisted synthesis · Based on 5 outlets' reporting · Article text read from 1 of 5 outletsHow it's made

View timeline · 11 entries
5 outlets2 regionsLatest reporting 3 min read
Coverage: MixedL 1 · C 2 · R 1 · 1 unrated
File photo
Photo: Daniel Torok / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

What happened

Key facts

  • The Wall Street Journal reported that Donald Trump asked SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to restore Starshield’s service speed in Ukraine.
  • Starshield service in Ukraine began experiencing outages when signals cut out at speeds of 160 km/h or higher.
  • Starshield is a satellite internet service for military and government users that SpaceX launched in 2022.
  • Elon Musk said Starshield is owned and controlled by the U.S. government and that the U.S. military and, ultimately, the U.S. president determine its restrictions.
  • Musk said Ukraine’s military use of civilian Starlink violated its terms of service.
  • Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he believed the U.S. government ordered the speed restrictions and SpaceX implemented them.

The brief

The Wall Street Journal reported that Donald Trump told Elon Musk he was dissatisfied with Starshield speed restrictions and discussed restoring service during a call the day before the report. The Journal cited people familiar with the matter. The account concerns Starshield, a satellite internet service for military and government use that SpaceX launched in 2022.

The restrictions have prompted competing accounts of who ordered them. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on NBC on the 18th that he believed the U.S. government directed the limits and SpaceX carried them out. His statement attributes the decision to the U.S. government and the technical implementation to the company.

Trump denied imposing the restrictions when reporters asked him about them on the 16th. He said, “I didn’t do it.” On the 22nd, addressing the report of his call with Musk, Trump said, “It doesn’t matter whether I called or someone else did.” The Wall Street Journal’s account of the conversation rests on people familiar with the matter.

Pete Hegseth, identified in the article as U.S. Secretary of War (Defense), also denied that the U.S. government restricted the service. In a statement on the 20th, he said, “We didn’t restrict anything.” Hegseth added that Starshield users must comply with terms of service and that Starlink can make decisions about the service.

The statements leave distinct accounts of responsibility: Zelenskyy said he believed the U.S. government ordered the restrictions, while Trump and Hegseth denied that the U.S. government imposed them. Hegseth’s statement points to SpaceX’s authority to make service decisions; it does not say whether the company changed the restrictions.

The New York Times headline likewise says Trump asked Musk to reverse limits on Ukraine’s military internet use. Headlines from news.sbs.co.kr, Newsmax and Moneycontrol describe Trump as asking Musk to lift restrictions or limits on Starshield or Starlink service in Ukraine. Those headlines do not add detail about the call or the parties’ accounts.

The Wall Street Journal account identifies the service restrictions, Trump’s reported discussion with Musk, and the public statements disputing who ordered the limits. It does not establish whether Musk agreed to alter them or whether the restrictions were lifted.

Why it matters

  • The limits concern Starshield, a satellite internet service for military and government use; the reported discussion involved restoring service.
  • Responsibility is contested: Zelenskyy said he believed the U.S. government ordered the restrictions, while Trump and Pete Hegseth denied that the U.S. government imposed them.
  • Hegseth said Starshield users must follow terms of service and that Starlink can make decisions about the service.

What to watch next

  • Whether Musk or SpaceX changes the Starshield speed restrictions.
  • Whether service is restored, as Trump reportedly discussed with Musk.
  • Whether the U.S. government or SpaceX clarifies who ordered or implemented the restrictions.

How it's being covered

Coverage analysisShow details
5 source articles · 5 unique outlets
Outlet political mix: Mixed· 1 Left · 2 Center · 1 Right · 1 unrated
Where the outlets are based: Asia 60% · US/Canada 40%
Outlet political mix
Mixed
Left
Center
Right
1 outlet
2 outlets
1 outlet
The marker shows coverage balance: each unique outlet counts once. 1 unrated outlet is not included.
Geography
Where the outlets covering this story are based.
5 unique outletsDominant coverage: Asia
How we measure coverage

How outlets' accounts compare

Updat3 does not yet have enough full reports to compare how outlets framed this story.

Timeline

Developments from this story's sources, dated background we compiled and fact-checked, and our earlier coverage. Each row says which.
  1. Elon Musk founded SpaceX.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  2. SpaceX launched its first 60 operational Starlink satellites.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  3. Starshield is a satellite internet service for military and government use that SpaceX launched in 2022.
    Reported in this story's sourcesSource:en.fnnews.com
  4. SpaceX activated Starlink service in Ukraine and terminals were supplied there.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  5. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, created the immediate wartime setting for that reliance.
    Background · from our historical context
  6. On September 7, 2022, Elon Musk said SpaceX had declined a Ukrainian request to activate Starlink coverage near Crimea, citing the risk that SpaceX could become directly involved in the war.
    Background · from our historical context
  7. Elon Musk publicly questioned whether SpaceX should continue paying for Starlink service in Ukraine.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  8. SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell said the company had restricted Starlink use for offensive drone operations in Ukraine.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  9. The Pentagon confirmed it had contracted with SpaceX to provide Starlink services in Ukraine.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  10. In September 2023, the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office disclosed a contract with SpaceX to develop a satellite network for government use, a separate government program from Ukraine’s Starlink access.
    Background · from our historical context
  11. Elon Musk said he had refused a Ukrainian request to activate Starlink near Crimea.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3

How we got here

On September 7, 2022, Elon Musk said SpaceX had declined a Ukrainian request to activate Starlink coverage near Crimea, citing the risk that SpaceX could become directly involved in the war. That episode exposed how Ukraine’s military use of a privately operated satellite network could depend on service decisions made by SpaceX.

In October 2022, Musk said SpaceX could no longer fund Starlink service for Ukraine indefinitely, then said the company would continue providing it; the Pentagon announced a contract for Starlink service in Ukraine in June 2023. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, created the immediate wartime setting for that reliance.

Original sources

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