President Donald Trump asked Elon Musk to ease restrictions he had placed on the military version of SpaceX’s Starlink system in Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing US officials. The Starshield system, which Ukraine relies on in its war against Russia, was “functioning more normally on Thursday, shortly after” Trump spoke to Musk by phone, U.S. and Ukrainian officials told the Journal. or if someone else called, it makes no difference,” Trump told reporters outside the White House as he departed for a campaign rally in Iowa. “In short, he called it back,” Trump said of Musk. The Journal reported Tuesday that Musk, the founder and CEO of SpaceX and a critic of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, had ordered the slowdown of Starlink. Two anonymous sources in that report said Trump and Musk had discussed the decision to limit Starlink “shortly” after the change was made. made public for the first time last week, while a source said Musk had spoken to Trump before imposing the speed limit. Trump has repeatedly denied his involvement in the decision and has said he does not know if Musk was behind it. “I don’t know who did it, but I was not involved,” Trump said on Wednesday. Read more Politics and coverage of Russia. CNBCSen politics John Cornyn, R-Texas, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday that he doesn’t believe Musk will throttle Starlink without “at least the acquiescence of the White House.” Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., ranking member of the Senate homeland security committee’s investigations subcommittee, launched an investigation Thursday into how SpaceX’s satellite technology was “downgraded for Ukraine without warning.” “Criticism to a key ally not only puts Ukrainian forces and its people at risk, but raises serious questions about who controls the critical capabilities that the US government has spent billions of dollars on,” Blumenthal said in letters to Musk and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The White House and an email associated with Musk did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment on Thursday’s report that Trump had asked Musk to lift the restrictions.
