Secretary of State Marco Rubio said decisions about Ukraine's access to Starlink are made by SpaceX and Elon Musk, not the White House, comments that suggested Musk may have restricted Kyiv's access to the satellite communications service.
Reuters reported Rubio's remarks on Wednesday, saying the secretary of state's comments indicated Musk may have limited Ukraine's use of the network. The wire service described the Starlink question as "a decision for Musk, not White House."
Speaking on camera, Rubio was blunt about the division of authority. "The president has nothing to do with the decisions that are made by Starlink and Starshield and by Mr. Musk," he said. "That's a private company. The president doesn't run that company and can't direct that company to do anything."
Rubio went further in the same remarks, addressing the question of whether the matter had been discussed inside the administration. "Again, the president has nothing to do with the decisions that are made by Starlink and Starshield and by Mr. Musk," he said. "That's a private company. The president doesn't run that company and can't direct that company to do anything. I'm not aware of any foreign knowledge, but again, the reporting was not about foreign knowledge. I'm telling you there was no foreign knowledge, but beyond it, even if there was, we don't control what a private company, how they decide their product can be used."
Clash Report, an account with 895,000 followers, carried the exchange, framing Rubio's answer around the president's distance from the company. "Trump has nothing to do with the decisions that are made by Starlink and Starshield and by Mr. Musk," the account quoted Rubio saying. "That's a private company. Trump doesn't run that company and can't direct that company to do anything."
The remarks landed as other outlets reported that Musk himself had moved to limit Ukraine's access. CBS News reported that a decision by Elon Musk led to restrictions on Ukraine's use of SpaceX's satellite communications network, citing people familiar with the matter. Other coverage described the move as a slowdown ordered by Musk, and one report said the disruption affected the country's ability to defend against Russian attacks. Those accounts have circulated widely but have not been confirmed by SpaceX, the White House or the Ukrainian government.
Rubio, in the same appearance carried by Fox News, delivered a broader message about America's role in Ukraine's survival. "If it were not for the assistance of the United States, including under the Trump administration, there would be no Ukraine right now," he said. "Ukraine as a sovereign state would not exist."
The secretary of state paired that with credit for Ukrainian forces. "That doesn't mean the bravery of the Ukrainian fighters should not be highlighted, because they have absolutely very bravely fought for their country and done extraordinary things with the aid that's been provided to them, standing up to a much larger country," Rubio said. "But let's be very clear there. There would be no Ukraine today were it not for the assistance of the United States has supplied Ukraine in the billions of dollars going back to the Biden administration and going through this administration as well."
Fox News, which has 29.4 million followers, posted the clip with the line that Rubio was delivering "a blunt message about America's role in Ukraine's survival, saying Washington will no longer be" defensive about the topic. The full remarks show Rubio insisting the administration would not apologize for the point.
The Starlink question has taken on added weight because the network is central to Ukrainian military communications, and because Musk and President Donald Trump have both recently criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has also flagged disruptions in U.S. intelligence sharing, according to coverage of the dispute.
The sequence of events Wednesday ran from Rubio's morning remarks to a widening set of outlets picking up the story. Reuters posted at 8:16 a.m. that Rubio's comments "suggested Musk may have restricted Kyiv's access to the service," then followed at 12:20 p.m. with the headline that Starlink access in Ukraine is "a decision for Musk, not White House." Clash Report carried the exchange earlier in the morning, and Fox News posted the secretary's Ukraine remarks at 11:37 a.m.
Separately, One America News, an account with 2.3 million followers, reported that Stephen Hubbard, an American imprisoned in Russia for four years, had been released following a direct request from President Trump to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The White House said no prisoner swap was required, and Hubbard was reported to be on his way home to reunite with his family.
The Washington Examiner, an account with 374,000 followers, promoted its latest magazine edition Wednesday, leading with a package on attorneys general suing the Trump administration and arguing that an "AWOL Congress" made hundreds of lawsuits possible, alongside pieces on California sentencing and the White House press secretary's task.
On the Starlink matter, the reporting that Musk restricted Ukraine's access remains attributed to unnamed people familiar with the matter. Next News Network could not independently verify the claim that Musk restricted or slowed Ukraine's access to Starlink.
What is on the record is Rubio's account of where the decision sits: with a private company and its owner, not with the president. "We don't control what a private company, how they decide their product can be used," he said.
Our Take
Rubio's answer is the tell. When a cabinet secretary stands at a microphone and says the president "can't direct that company to do anything," he is telling you two things at once: that the administration wants distance from whatever happened to Ukraine's satellite link, and that it believes the distance is real. That may be legally accurate — SpaceX is a private firm — but it is politically convenient in a way that should invite scrutiny rather than end it.
The reporting that Musk personally moved to restrict Kyiv's access is serious, and it is being carried by outlets that have not shown their work. "People familiar with the matter" is not a source a reader can check. If a private company can degrade the communications of an ally mid-war at the direction of its owner, the public deserves a named accounting — from SpaceX, from the Pentagon, and from the committee chairmen who oversee both.
The administration's line — that Ukraine would not exist without American aid — is true and worth saying plainly. But it sits awkwardly next to a story about an American company possibly narrowing that aid's effect. Rubio says the White House doesn't control Musk. Fine. Then Congress should ask Musk directly, under oath, what he did and why. A private company's choices are not beyond public questioning just because they are private.
