Trump called Musk asking him to lift Starshield restrictions for Ukraine

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday, October 21, called Elon Musk and asked him to remove the speed limit on Starshield — the military version of Starlink that Ukraine uses to control drones and organize battlefield communications.

This was reported by The Wall Street Journal, citing Reuters.

According to the outlet, on Thursday, shortly after the call, the system began operating noticeably more stably. Several Ukrainian officials noted that speeds had increased compared to the restricted mode, but had not been fully restored.

On Thursday, Trump declined to answer whether he had personally called Musk.

“Whether I called or someone else did — it doesn’t matter at all. I think the point is that he restored everything to the way it was,” — Trump told reporters at the White House.

The call was confirmed by a White House staffer in a conversation with the New York Post.

According to The Wall Street Journal, during the conversation Trump expressed his displeasure to Musk that the system’s speed was still limited to approximately 100 miles per hour (160 km/h). As a result, Ukrainian strike drones and interceptors are rendered ineffective against Russian strikes.

Kyiv denies reports of connectivity being restored

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier on Thursday that speeds had not yet returned to 400 km/h. “We are working on this,” he said, adding that he was awaiting a response from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who had promised to provide one within approximately 48 hours.

A Ukrainian official told the Kyiv Independent that reports of connectivity being restored were “all lies,” that “nothing has changed anywhere,” and that the 161 km/h limit remains in effect. A senior European official also confirmed to ABC News that the Starshield speed limit had not changed.