Some US officials told the Journal that Musk acted unilaterally and that Trump did not order retribution against Ukraine, though one person familiar with the situation said Musk spoke with Trump and multiple senior administration officials before imposing the cap. Two people said Musk and Trump discussed the decision on a call while the president was campaigning last week after the slowdown became public, and SpaceX representatives called White House counterparts seeking a unified message that they had coordinated ahead of Musk's directive. Military analyst Michael Kofman said Ukrainian strike and interceptor drones remain throttled to a 160 km/h limit, with connections in practice dropping below 130 km/h.
The report follows days of conflicting accounts from SpaceX and the Trump administration after the 100 mph (161 km/h) cap took effect on October 14. Musk wrote on X last week that the Starshield network is owned and controlled by the US government and that "any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS." Trump said Monday that he did not know who ordered the interruption, while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday that the Pentagon issued no directives and suggested SpaceX acted to enforce its terms of service.