Musk personally proposed restricting Starlink in Ukraine to Trump — the Daily Telegraph

It was Elon Musk who initiated the restrictions on Starlink satellite communications for Ukrainian forces, not the U.S. administration.

This was reported by The Daily Telegraph, citing sources familiar with the situation.

According to the newspaper, the idea for the restrictions came personally from Musk. U.S. President Donald Trump then agreed to the entrepreneur’s proposal, after which the Pentagon imposed restrictions on the Starshield military communications system. The measures affected terminals on vehicles traveling at speeds above 160 km/h, hampering the use of Ukrainian interceptor drones.

The report emerged amid a dispute over responsibility for the reduction in connection speeds used by Ukrainian military personnel. One of The Daily Telegraph’s sources directly contradicted Musk’s public account, in which he shifted responsibility onto the White House:

“He posted on social network X that he was not responsible and that it was the U.S. administration that did it. In reality, both of them were involved,” the source told the outlet.

According to the same source, after the restrictions were introduced, Musk feared a negative reaction from European clients.

Trump, for his part, speaking to journalists, also stated that the U.S. government had no involvement in restricting Starlink’s operation on Ukrainian territory, adding that he had personally verified this.

Previously, the editorial team analyzed in a separate article whether Starlink is currently operational for the Armed Forces of Ukraine and who may have ordered the terminals’ speeds to be restricted.