President Trump said on Oct. 16 that he did not order SpaceX's Starshield satellite service to be slowed in Ukraine. He added that he does not think Elon Musk did it either, and that he does not know who did.
Speaking to reporters on the White House lawn before leaving for Georgia, the president was asked who ordered Starshield, SpaceX's military service, to be throttled or shut down. He said he wasn't sure, but it wasn't him, the Washington Examiner reported.
The question matters because Ukraine uses the system on drones, and the accounts of who is responsible do not match. So far, no one has publicly taken responsibility for the decision. A note on sourcing: this story is based on search excerpts and secondary reports. The bodies of the Examiner and Just the News articles were not reviewed, and the exact wording of Trump's remarks has not been verified against video or a transcript.
Three Answers to One Question
According to a Bloomberg account carried by European Pravda, Trump told reporters: "It wasn't me, and I don't think it was Elon. I don't know if it was anybody." He went on to say that, from what he understood, the service was the same as it had always been. Other outlets, citing Reuters and Bloomberg, rendered his remarks with slightly different wording, and no video or full transcript was available for this story. The substance was consistent: the president says the order did not come from him.
Other accounts differ. Reuters had earlier reported that the order to restrict the service came directly from the White House, according to European Pravda. Musk, in a post on X on Oct. 14, said that limits on Starshield's speed and use are set by U.S. military authorities and, ultimately, the president, according to a paraphrase reported by South Korea's SBS. Axios had earlier reported that the White House denied involvement and said it does not control SpaceX.
Each of those accounts has been reported secondhand. How Reuters sourced its report, whether by name or anonymously, has not been established.
What Starshield Does on the Front
Starshield is a SpaceX product used by the U.S. military and available to Ukraine. It is often confused with Starlink, the civilian service Ukrainians also use, Just the News noted. That confusion runs through the coverage itself: some reports describe Starlink problems, others Starshield, and it is not clear whether they refer to the same restrictions.
SBS reported that access to and control of Starshield belong to the Department of Defense, and that Ukrainian forces use it on drone-mounted terminals to strike Russian facilities and to shoot down Russian attack drones. SBS also reported that Ukraine took damage from Russian drone strikes this week as the disruption created gaps in its drone offense and defense. Whether the outage actually caused that damage has not been confirmed.
The Examiner said the move temporarily wrought havoc. Trump's statement that the service is as it has always been, as European Pravda relayed it, differs from that description. The scope and duration of the slowdown remain unclear.
Attention From Capitol Hill and London
Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican, is seeking an investigation into the Pentagon's actions regarding the Starlink problems Ukraine's forces ran into, European Pravda reported. A related headline on the Examiner's site reads "British defense secretary to ask Hegseth about Starshield outage." Only the headline was seen, and the report is unconfirmed.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Musk's decision to restrict Starlink functionality was a mistake, according to European Pravda. The excerpt of his remarks available for this story cuts off, and it concerns Starlink, not necessarily Starshield.
What Comes Next
Still pending are Tillis's investigation request and any statements from the Pentagon, SpaceX or Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Confirmation from Ukraine on the status of its service has also not been reported. The original Reuters report, Musk's Oct. 14 post on X and video or a transcript of Trump's remarks have not yet been reviewed.
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