Rubio, Hegseth point fingers at Musk in Starlink slowdown

Top Trump administration officials are starting to point fingers squarely at SpaceX founder Elon Musk for the decision to slow down his company’s Starlink satellite internet services and its military counterpart Starshield for Ukraine, which has been muddled in uncertainty over the culprit.

Looking to deflect the controversial move — which was swiftly admonished by powerful Congressional Republicans and Democrats — Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday said that Ukraine’s access to Starlink was up to Musk and not the White House.

“The bottom ​line is that that is governed by a private commercial contract as to how their stuff can be used and what speeds they’ll allow it to be used at,” Rubio told reporters while traveling to India. 

And Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, speaking to reporters ​a day prior on Tuesday, suggested Starlink’s slowdown was a commercial matter and not a result of any orders from the White House.

“There are terms of service that ultimately need to be complied to, and that’s where Starlink has the option to make those decisions,” Hegseth said.

Taken together, the comments are a change of tune to President Trump’s original assertions last week that neither he nor Musk were responsible for the disruption. Rubio also on Saturday had insisted that no one ordered the slowdown.

The about-face comes after The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Musk had ordered the slowdown of the satellite services, a vital tool Ukraine uses to defend itself from Russian missile and drone attacks.   

Trump’s role is unclear. The Journal reported that at least one person claimed Musk and Trump spoke prior to the slowdown. Reuters reported last week that the order to throttle Starlink came from inside the White House, in a directive to the Pentagon. Sources speaking to Reuters did not specify who at the White House made the decision or who was responsible........

© The Hill