Donald Trump will put pressure on Elon Musk if Starshield is not restored for kyiv

Donald Trump said Friday that he would speak to Elon Musk if there were still restrictions on SpaceX's Starshield military satellite communications system, essential to Ukraine in the war against Russia.

“I haven’t spoken to him. I might have to but I haven't. I heard that it had been fixed, but if not, I will talk to him,” the Republican president told reporters, after Ukraine claimed that the system was still restricted for the Ukrainian army. “If there is a problem, I will solve it,” said Donald Trump, who had nevertheless affirmed the day before that Elon Musk, boss of SpaceX, which created the Starlink satellite service and its military version Starshield, had restored access. The billionaire president also dismissed accusations that Elon Musk had too much power over a system essential to Ukraine in the war against Russia: “Elon would never do anything wrong. I know him very well, he’s an honest person.”

Donald Trump has had a tumultuous relationship in the past with the multi-billionaire, who headed the Commission on Government Efficiency (Doge) at the start of the Republican's second term, before the two men fell out. But the duo appears to have reconciled in recent times, with Elon Musk attending a state dinner in honor of Chinese President Xi Jinping in September and being included on a Defense Department committee on the future of warfare.