Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Trump Called Musk and Asked Him to Lift Ukraine Starlink Restrictions
The Wall Street Journal ^ | Updated Oct. 22, 2026 2:15 pm ET | Alexander Ward and Lara Seligman

Posted on 10/22/2026 11:31:40 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum

Military-grade system appeared to be working more normally on Thursday, soon after the call

WASHINGTON—President Trump called Elon Musk on Wednesday and asked him to lift restrictions on a military-grade version of Starlink in Ukraine that the SpaceX chief had throttled, U.S. officials said.

The system was working more normally Thursday, shortly after their conversation, U.S. and Ukrainian officials said. Some Ukrainian officials said the system wasn’t restored to full functionality but was working at higher speeds than under the cap.

Trump told Musk said he was frustrated the system’s speeds remained capped at around 100 miles an hour, officials said. The speed limit rendered some of Ukraine’s offensive drones and interceptors powerless against Russian attacks. Their conversation followed a Wall Street Journal report revealing that Musk ordered the slowdown, though SpaceX and the White House have differing accounts about whether the world’s richest man acted alone or at the administration’s behest.

Trump has told aides and allies this week that he wanted to reverse the slowdown of Starlink, which Ukraine’s forces use to defend themselves along the frontline, the officials said.

“Removal of the throttle limit will do much to enable Ukraine’s strike capabilities at operational depths and its current effort to scale up deployment of jet powered interceptors,” said Michael Kofman, an expert on the war at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Kofman added that he had heard from Ukrainian military units that early tests suggest the system is now working more regularly.

Musk, SpaceX and Ukraine’s Embassy in Washington didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

The White House referred the Journal to Trump’s recent denials that he had asked Musk to throttle Starlink’s speeds or...

(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: alexanderward; elonmusk; laraseligman; putinstoogery; randspam; russianbotfarm; spacex; starlink; starshield; tds; trump; ukraine; ukrainestarlink; ukrainetruth; ukrainewar; wallstreeturinal; wsj

Click here: to donate by Credit Card

Or here: to donate by PayPal

Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794

Thank you very much and God bless you.


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-29 next last

1 posted on 10/22/2026 11:31:40 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

Oh joy! Let the civilian Russians die...</S>

Insane Trump must want to keep this going.


2 posted on 10/22/2026 11:35:05 AM PDT by ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton (You can vote totalitarians in but you can never vote them out...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton

If I’m remembering correctly, Starlink doesn’t operate within Russia, only within Ukraine. So, it would not be for attacks on Russia, but for defense from attacks from Russia.

So, it is actually saving civilian lives...not that some posters actually care.


3 posted on 10/22/2026 11:42:19 AM PDT by Engraved-on-His-hands (If someone says that there are no absolutes, ask them if they are absolutely sure.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

I don’t believe a word of this BS.


4 posted on 10/22/2026 11:42:53 AM PDT by JoSixChip
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

Note this is Starshield not Starlink.

Arms Export Control Act & ITAR apply to Starlink which is why it has a 100mph limit to comply with those laws and make it a non-miltary system.

Only POTUS as CIC can order the US Space Force Starshield system back to full throttle as was always the case. The media spend days having the vapors and ignored the fact that SpaceX being a US company must obey both AECA and ITAR too.


5 posted on 10/22/2026 11:43:37 AM PDT by GenXPolymath
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Engraved-on-His-hands

Correct Starlink being a civilian system only works on Ukraine and it’s occupied zones as Russia has denied the spectrum rights to SpaceX to operate in their territory.

Starshield is the military version and the military asks no permissions ever, that’s system is a stop me if you can system and very much does work in Russia as long as it’s not being jammed which by design is extremely difficult. If POTUD ordered Starshield back to full throttle as CIC that’s his call Starshield is a DoW owned system and fully under his command to do so. Look like he decided to allow Ukraine access again they had it from a contract prior to them striking Russian oil refineries and the Don getting mad at them.


6 posted on 10/22/2026 11:47:59 AM PDT by GenXPolymath
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton

“Trump must want to keep this going.”

Seems like it somehow.


7 posted on 10/22/2026 11:56:13 AM PDT by MayflowerMadam (In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

Taking lots of heat, 47 reverses his course.


8 posted on 10/22/2026 12:09:57 PM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now its your turn)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton

> Insane Trump must want to keep this going. <

Everyone in power (on both sides) wants to keep this going. It’s a replay of the stupidity of WW1, just on a smaller scale.


9 posted on 10/22/2026 12:13:06 PM PDT by Leaning Right
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Engraved-on-His-hands

That is what some people think.

It has been reported that since Ukraine is using it to target attacks in Russia, that is why Musk cut Zelensky off.

Also, it makes StarLink a target.


10 posted on 10/22/2026 12:24:18 PM PDT by ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton (You can vote totalitarians in but you can never vote them out...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

Starshield is a military-grade satellite network developed by SpaceX. It is built on technology similar to the civilian Starlink system, but it is specifically designed, funded, and controlled for use by the U.S. government and its national security partners.


11 posted on 10/22/2026 12:29:32 PM PDT by McGruff
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: PIF
Taking lots of heat, 47 reverses his course.

War-groupies elated.

12 posted on 10/22/2026 12:37:31 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (The right of the Democrats to embezzle elections shall not be infringed. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Engraved-on-His-hands

That is what some people think.

It has been reported that since Ukraine is using it to target attacks in Russia, that is why Musk cut Zelensky off.

Also, it makes StarLink a target.


13 posted on 10/22/2026 12:39:09 PM PDT by ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton (You can vote totalitarians in but you can never vote them out...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Engraved-on-His-hands

Most drones are fiber optic, not satellite.


14 posted on 10/22/2026 12:50:54 PM PDT by Shanty Shaker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

NO!!!

Screw that!


15 posted on 10/22/2026 12:53:08 PM PDT by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

The Dems keep saying Trump is a Russian stooge.

this kind of flies in the face of THAT NONSENSE.


16 posted on 10/22/2026 12:56:11 PM PDT by Phoenix8
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton

Oh, heaven forbid that the Ukrainians are actually allowed to defend themselves against a Russian invasion!


17 posted on 10/22/2026 1:01:33 PM PDT by Petrosius
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

“Trump told Musk said he was frustrated the system’s speeds remained capped at around 100 miles an hour”

Since when are wi-fi speeds measured in “miles an hour”?


18 posted on 10/22/2026 1:08:19 PM PDT by caver ( )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: caver

Why Wi‑Fi Speeds Are Measured in Mbps, Not “Miles per Hour”
Wi‑Fi speeds are not measured in miles per hour because that unit describes distance traveled over time, not data transfer rate. In networking, “speed” refers to how much information is sent or received per second, which is expressed in bits per second (bps), kilobits per second (kbps), megabits per second (Mbps), or gigabits per second (Gbps)
Meter
Meter
+1
.


could be ai reporting or liberal reporting


19 posted on 10/22/2026 1:16:12 PM PDT by PeterPrinciple ((Thinking Caps are no longer being issued, but there must be a warehouse full of them somewhere))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: JoSixChip
I don’t believe a word of this BS.

I don't either.

Starlink-Ukraine-Russia is highly strategic. Its hardly up to Elon Musk

Reminds me of DOGE, which was really about mapping Democrat NGO/deep-state corrupt money flows. But we were told it was about overly-aggressive efforts to cancel employee credit cards and unnecessary office-furniture purchases. And it was put on Musk and his minions like "big balls."

But this allows Trump some cheap cover to the DC deep-state and RINOs. I guess he still fears them.

20 posted on 10/22/2026 1:27:29 PM PDT by PGR88
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-29 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson