WASHINGTON—Elon Musk ordered the slowdown of a military-grade version of Starlink relied on by Ukraine, a decision that sparked panic in Kyiv and confusion inside the Trump administration, U.S. officials and people familiar with the matter said.
Both Musk and President Trump have expressed anger at Ukraine for attacking Russian diesel refineries in recent weeks, which the president blames for high energy prices. One of the people also claimed Musk and Trump discussed the matter prior to the decision to throttle Starlink. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s public complaints—namely that Ukrainians could die if the unrestrictive service wasn’t restored—led to widespread confusion about who ordered the slowdown, and to an informal investigation inside the White House. Some U.S. officials say that Musk acted unilaterally and that Trump didn’t specifically order any retribution against Ukraine. The slowdown, which began on Oct. That led Kyiv to immediately suspect the order came either from the president or the world’s richest man.
14, followed several announcements and statements by the Trump administration that Ukrainian officials saw as hostile to Ukraine, including criticism of Zelensky from Trump and Musk.
Last week, Musk capped the speeds at which Ukrainian hardware could stay connected to the satellite-based network, the people said, rendering some offensive drones and interceptor drones virtually useless. Musk and Trump discussed the Starlink decision in a call soon after the slowdown became public, while the president was campaigning last week, two of the people said. During the uproar, SpaceX representatives called White House counterparts seeking a unified understanding and subsequent message that the company and Trump administration coordinated ahead of Musk’s directive, the people said. Musk himself tweeted hours after the slowdown became public, “Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS,” using the acronym for president of the United States. Trump told reporters Monday that he didn’t know who was responsible for the Starlink slowdown, “but I would like to find out. But a person familiar with the situation said Musk talked to multiple senior administration officials, including with Trump, before imposing the new speed cap, which Ukrainian officials said had allowed Russian missiles to evade their defenses.
