r/politics • u/Not_Tom_Jones • 10h ago
Possible Paywall Musk approached Trump to slow down Starlink in Ukraine
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/10/16/musk-approached-trump-slow-down-starlink-help-ukraine/4.2k
u/tegrtyfrm 10h ago
Elon Musk is an enemy to the American people
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u/_Flight_of_icarus_ 10h ago
He's an enemy of the entire free world and democracy itself.
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u/badamant 9h ago
I do not think the haircut thing is real.... but Elon is still a nazi bitch.
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u/Itchy-Plastic 8h ago
He's a very American Nazi white supremacist. There's a reason he fled to the US.
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u/curiosity433 8h ago
His grandparents were kicked out of Canada for their technofascist pro-Hitler political party
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u/Mysterious_Floor_868 United Kingdom 10h ago
If they're going to harass Ilhan Omar on spurious grounds regarding some old paperwork (despite her having been a US citizen for more than a quarter of a century), why can't Musk be subjected to the same treatment? He did overstay a visa, after all.
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u/Unshkblefaith California 9h ago
He didn't just overstay a visa. He lied about the purpose of his visa and engaged in business activities under an educational visa. This wasn't just a "he got bored with school and went into business on a student visa". He committed actual fraud and never went to school to start with.
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u/Pockydo 10h ago
He's white rich and a Nazi Republicans love that
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u/BasvanS 9h ago
Why do we care what Nazis want?
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u/Mysterious_Floor_868 United Kingdom 7h ago
Unfortunately they're the ones holding the keys to the White House.
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u/OBotB 8h ago edited 5h ago
Can't they somehow love him more while he undergoes civil and criminal trials and some lawyers figure out how to seize or force him to forfeit his assets to help pay for the damage he has done and lives he has harmed since he first came to the US and started his visa fraud. They could finally get the thousands DOGE and Trump promised, and we could get never having to deal with him again.
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u/Dildo___Schwaggins 10h ago
He's an enemy to humanity, like all his billionaire mates.
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u/SanchoPandas Oregon 10h ago
Yup. We are all awash in shitty super hero content but still couldn’t spot the supervillain until he took over everything.
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u/_Flight_of_icarus_ 9h ago
The red flags definitely started becoming more obvious late last decade/early this decade though.
Even if one didn't dig too deep into his past, he definitely started becoming more open with his far right views with things he's start casually dropping in interviews, and then buying Twitter seemed like the real "oh shit..." moment that should have raised some more eyebrows than it did.
Problem is he had too big of a fanbase built up by that point and all the Musk worshippers were quick to dismiss criticism and concerns people brought up about him, even if his true colors were well out in the open.
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u/SanchoPandas Oregon 9h ago
Yeah. I'll admit I was fooled for a bit by his shtick and it wasn't until this reporting in the Guardian, How the roots of the ‘PayPal mafia’ extend to apartheid South Africa, that he realized quite how obvious the signs really were.
Turns out Musk and his pal Peter Thiel are white supremacists and the progeny literal nazis. Go figure...
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u/GoodIdea321 America 9h ago
That might be why the superhero movies became popular again, it does seem like those stories are popular in unstable times.
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u/coconutpiecrust 10h ago
Can we just agree that both Musk and Trump are to blame? No one cares who was “totally the first to suggest it.” They ALL wanted it.
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u/Confident-Tadpole873 10h ago
We should punish him with the harshest sentences we can enforce on traitors.
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u/xXBassHero99Xx 10h ago
But look, he exercised his unimaginable wealth to orchestrate capital toward the manufacture and demonstration of a technically compelling full size toy flying car that can never be commercially viable.
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u/FabboFabbo 10h ago
The worst people on earth.
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u/specqq 10h ago edited 10h ago
Astronomers define the "Local Cluster" as a group of about 50 galaxies including Andromeda and the Milky Way and the Triangulum and several dozen lesser known or smaller galaxies which covers a diameter of roughly 10 Million light years.
Trump and Musk are both in the running for the "Worst Being in the Local Cluster."
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u/honjuden 10h ago
Front runner for Biggest Douche in the Universe.
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u/blacksheep998 9h ago
Pretty sure they've both beaten out John Edward by a pretty wide margin at this point.
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u/Informal_Dude 10h ago
Fucking traitor. A despicable human being in every way
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u/space_cow_girl 10h ago
Enemies to democracy and the rule of law.
These fuckers want WWIII.
They belong in The Hague.
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u/thebhguy9900 8h ago
What about the Fascists who still adore Tesla, Starlink, SpaceX? What do we do with them?
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u/purplebrown_updown 10h ago
Dems need to use this opportunity to cut all contracts with Musk and label him a national security threat. For the life of me I don't understand why the Biden admin didn't do this already given his ties with white nationalists. Enough already.
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u/SpinningHead Colorado 10h ago
He was being investigated over his ties to China, but DOGE gutted those groups in the government. Weird, huh?
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u/dalgeek Colorado 10h ago
There were like 14 federal investigations across all of Musk's companies before Trump won in 2024, then all those investigations magically went away.
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u/honjuden 10h ago
He was pretty up front about how neck deep in shit he was going to be if Trump didn't win.
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u/aerost0rm 10h ago
I agree. This is why they went so scorched earth and why he is pushing to do it again. He will go past the confines of the law because if he doesn’t he’s going to be in deep shit anyway. There is only one way not to be and that’s to keep the MAGA party alive. He would be better off cutting ties, cashing out and fleeing.
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u/fork_yuu 10h ago
Does he expect to fund every corrupt asshole till his death? He could just not do illegal shit
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u/Acceptable-Bus-2017 I voted 9h ago
And a year later he is back, but this time he has access to the Pentagon.
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u/honjuden 10h ago
They should just nationalize SpaceX and Starlink, then deport his ass.
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u/Sun-Forged 10h ago
That's not an option in their minds because it opens the door to more. There are plenty of industries that should be nationalized but the current goal is to privatize and profit.
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u/CobraPony67 Washington 10h ago
SpaceX and Starlink are parts of the privatization of NASA. They could be incorporated back into NASA.
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u/Automatic_Zebra_1099 10h ago
Not they could but they should be incorporated back in. Having this level of control over something so crucial in the hands of one drugged up narcissist is a terrible idea.
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u/teddytwelvetoes 10h ago
...they are obviously not going to do that lol as you alluded to, we already voted the opposition party back into power and they spent four years letting all of their sociopathic country club buddies across the aisle get away with everything. couldn't even be bothered to give a slap on the wrist to random low-level bozos like "Matt Gaetz" who got caught doing sex crimes on Venmo, ffs
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u/vthemechanicv 10h ago
Because being a white nationalist isn't a crime, and like it or not, and I hate even saying it, but Starlink and SpaceX are providing services no one else can right now.
What Musk is doing now, playing some sort of international politics, interfering in a war, and arguably treason, is a crime. So we'll see where Democrats go after picking up all the other million pieces of shit trump and co. have thrown.
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u/SpinningHead Colorado 8h ago
Being a white nationalists supporting other white nationalists overseas is a gigantic red flag regarding clearance.
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u/Klutzy_Phone1771 10h ago
exactly the issue is that he's in a position to influence a war through private companies and there aren't easy alternatives to what he provides
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u/Not_Tom_Jones 10h ago
Elon Musk came to Donald Trump with the plan to throttle Ukraine’s use of SpaceX’s Starshield satellite internet network, sources have told the Telegraph.
The tech billionaire made the proposal during the US President’s row with Volodymyr Zelensky over strikes on Russian oil refineries.
‘The reality is that they were both in it,’ a senior source said of Musk’s and Trump’s involvement.
But after a night of carnage in Kyiv caused by the slowdown, Musk was alarmed about the possibility of adverse consumer reaction in Europe.
The SpaceX boss then proceeded to tweet, blaming the US administration, and ultimately, President Trump for authorising the slowdown.
‘He tweeted out that he was innocent and that it was the US administration that did it,’ the source said.
Paywall removed: https://archive.is/20261016180353/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/10/16/musk-approached-trump-slow-down-starlink-help-ukraine/
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u/pantsmeplz 10h ago
But after a night of carnage in Kyiv caused by the slowdown, Musk was alarmed about the possibility of adverse consumer reaction in Europe.
To not anticipate this by Musk, shows so many faults in his personality and leadership. It was a very obvious outcome and the "super k" billionaire is too narcissistic and obtuse to comprehend.
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u/Lone-Frequency 9h ago
Musk is NOT a leader.
He was not elected to any form of office.
He should not possess even half the power he currently has.
He has never once displayed actual leadership skills.
So that is not surprising at all.
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u/mosesoperandi 10h ago
You left out intelligence. You can say that character gets in the way and it isn't a reflection of his cognitive ability, but at the end of the day intelligence is enacted. He made an incredibly stupid choice and as such showed his deficiencies in his personality, leadership, and intellect.
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u/wecangetbetter 9h ago
prob emerged from his k-hole and was like, "oh"
people hate him more than ever
global distrust of starlink
ukraine is going to continue bombing the bot farms just to spite him
lose-lose-lose
love it for him
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u/I_eat_mud_ 9h ago
Just another piece of evidence that billionaires are just dipshits who seem pretty incapable of thinking in the long term, add it to the pile
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u/NegativeSuspect 10h ago
Elon Musk single handedly destroyed the most profitable customer base for his own company. Military contracts.
The fact that this moron is the richest person on the planet is a testament to how doomed the human race is.
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u/dalgeek Colorado 10h ago
So Musk asked Trump to interfere in a global military conflict, then threw Trump under the bus because he was worried about adverse customer reaction. He's treating this like a fucking game while innocent civilians are getting killed.
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u/TubercuLicious-OO- 10h ago
Can we just agree there's plenty of room under the bus for both of them
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u/Forgotmyaccount1979 7h ago
It is a game, to both of them.
And our lives certainly don't matter to them.
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u/snoozysaiyan Canada 10h ago
This is going to kill us tech industry specific to highly sensitive areas like defense etc. it shows the fact that the us can throttle your use. Am surprised, the industry is not calling this out. Or I guess they are out spent by musk
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u/ForMoreYears Canada 9h ago
France and DeGaulle were right with the whole strategic autonomy thing. The U.S. isn't a reliable ally and shouldn't be trusted; at the end of the day they will throw anyone under the bus for more money or power.
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u/boofles1 9h ago
There has been speculation that the US could "turn off" F35 features, which has been furiously denied but it seems it can happen if a Republican donor has a bee in his bonnet about data centres being targeted.
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u/Prior_Implement_9279 7h ago
If Starlink can do it you better bet your ass Palantir can do it. Any country outside the Us that willingly works with Palantir is completely stupid
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u/_Flight_of_icarus_ 10h ago
So he's gone from being a threat to America to a threat to the entire free world.
Fuck Elon Musk.
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u/RlOTGRRRL 9h ago
He's a threat to humanity.
I just saw a video where he says humans will have to merge with technology, AI, at some point.
That's his solution to the AI problem.
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u/AcadiaLivid2582 10h ago
Musk overstayed his student visa, and therefore obtained his US citizenship illegally.
He should be denaturalized and deported.
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u/morrighaan 10h ago
The board needs to remove him from any involvement with the company immediately.
How to trash entire brand reputability in less than two years.
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u/unpluggedcord I voted 8h ago
Its been trashed since he called the diver rescuer operation pedophiles.
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u/honorable_doofus 10h ago
Nationalizing SpaceX would be the moderate position in a sane country.
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u/PontyPandy 10h ago
or breaking it up, and oversight on contracts and consequences for broken contracts.
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u/cocacolapepsifanta Europe 10h ago
If this is really true, then his power within the American government is much greater than I naively imagined.... This is far too serious for a democracy, and for a country that has always been a democracy since its founding flawed, but still a democracy. Having the richest man in the world whispering into the president's ear what to do.... The most ironic part is that the guy isn't even American.
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u/PontyPandy 9h ago
Trump is a puppet, doesn't know half of what he's signing. He's happy to do whatever anyone wants as long as they pay up and he keeps getting richer. So the fact is there are MANY people who have more power than any of us know about right now. Project 2025 is certainly front and center, but then you have all these other interests who are also eating at the Trump buffet.
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u/trisul-108 Europe 9h ago
It is not difficult to get Trump to do anything. Witkoff explained it well to the Russians "there must be something in it for Trump, it's that simple".
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u/Cloaked42m South Carolina 5h ago
The power is that he can speak directly to Trump.
Trump just does whatever he hears last.
In his first term the SECDEF very deliberately did not provide extreme options to Trump. People in the white house would nod and smile and just not pass on stupid orders.
I'm going to guess Musk called him and said we'll, we Could just throttle starshield. Then Ukraine couldn't target diesel anymore. Trump said cool and made the call to drunk boy.
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u/lucifers_pert_bussy 9h ago
American government? We have a random billionaire directing a foreign war…
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u/BookkeeperBoobs 9h ago
Imagine if the richest man in the world was black and he was whispering into Obama’s ear?
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u/TeutonJon78 America 8h ago
Musk is a naturalized American citizen. Unfortunately.
One might wonder at what point his dealings with foreign governments turns in making foreign policy as a private citizen. Which starts to open into treason territory.
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u/mastmar221 10h ago
Let’s just nationalize SpaceX, and fold it into NASA. No value offered. Just take it. It’s build on public funds, time for the public to own it.
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u/poplop69 10h ago
This is the way. But unfortunately no one has the plums to initiate something like this.
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u/DillDeer 10h ago
It’s just so crazy to me. What does Musk have to gain from this?
Ukraine bombing oil refineries only strengthens the case for EVs.
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u/UpbeatDurian7628 7h ago
Ukraine bombed a data center in Russia and shut down the bots online for a few days. Elon really really really really needs the Russian propaganda bots.
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u/Spirited-Lifeguard55 6h ago
Problem is that Musk has a lot of bot farms in India too, and those need to be taken down as well.
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u/PontyPandy 9h ago
Must have some Russian interest... he doesn't like Europe because they call him out on his shit. Enemy of my enemy type shit?
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u/billtipp 9h ago
Most of his "supporters " live in a server in a Russian data center.
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u/RIPthisDude 7h ago
Basically this. For Musk, twitter is valuable because of its ability to engage and influence. Russian bot centres pump up active user numbers and readily drive engagement (as well as pushing rhetoric he agrees with). Zelenskyy striking Russian bot centres is harmful to both this, but also to Republican midterm hopes, and he's shown with his money which side he favours in American politics
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u/Dense-Ad-5780 Canada 9h ago
I wager he owes them a bunch of money, or they’ve got some Epstein stuff on him.
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u/P1xelHunter78 Michigan 8h ago
Musk likes fascists. He knows he can’t live forever, and he seems to be keen on using his fortune to help fascists so he can give Nazi salutes in public. Who’s the last Nazi to be able to give a salute in the US capitol? Has it ever happened? It might be an even more dubious title than Trump being the second world leader to ever demolish the White House.
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u/gjiorkiie 8h ago
I also agree that Musk openly and proudly giving a Nazi salute should have him ostracised from society not treated like gods fucking gift on earth. THE GUYS AN OPEN NAZI FFS
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u/Frequent_Opportunist 8h ago
Starlink needs to be nationalized for national security reasons.
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u/Not-a-Bot_1968 7h ago
nationalized? by our current federal government? by Trump? the guy who wanted it shut down? I’m not sure I understand what exactly you’re advocating for here, or if you don’t.
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u/Frequent_Opportunist 5h ago
No I completely understand. The current Administration will be gone soon. I hope that helps clarify things for you.
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u/Akimbo_Zap_Guns Kentucky 8h ago
Easy, Ukraine put a dent into the Russian bots that Musk let free on twitterX by taking out a data center. Elon makes billions having Trump and republicans in office and the Russian propaganda bots are the best way for them to soft rig elections
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u/RecordOfTheEnd 8h ago
He probably uses Russian bot farms for most of his election influence and the data center attacks hurt that.
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u/Less_Tacos 7h ago
Ukraine was hitting Russian bot farms and crypto servers. What is the link between those and skuM?
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u/somewhat_brave 8h ago
He wants Republicans to win in the midterms, but the high cost of gas is making that unlikely.
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u/mvallas1073 7h ago
It wasn’t the oil refineries being bombed that Musk is upset with, it was the Right-wing Russian Botting Centers being bombed he was upset at.
When you realize that, it makes a LOT more sense!
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u/tastesliketurtles 7h ago
They’re trying to end the war before the midterms to have something ‘good’ to show voters. The only realistic way of doing that in such a short period is on Putin’s terms - forcing Ukraine to cede territory that Russia hasn’t even taken on the battlefield. Ukraine is already being choked defensively with no supply of patriots to take down Russia’s ballistic missiles and new jet-powered drones. No starlink cripples Ukraine further both offensively and defensively.
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u/Green-Permit-3211 10h ago
Starlink should be nationalized. Not in the hands of a madman.
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u/FillUpMyPassport 10h ago
With the next administration if the Dems win. Otherwise one madman for another.
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u/Sure_Ad_3573 6h ago
I will never understand this idiot. How unimaginably stupid do you have to be to have won the lottery this many times in a row only to embroil yourself in global politics? But not just get involved, but get balls deep in life jeopardizing illegality and possible treason for no tangible gain. At a minimum all he had to do was enjoy his obscene wealth as far away from public scrutiny as this planet allows. Taken just one step further he could have had his people set up and manage charities with little to no effort on his part so that he might be thought of us a decent person.
But instead he chose the dumbest path possible. He chose to side with fascists and shoot off a couple emails to beg attendance at Epstein island. That’s the measure of him. I can’t fathom a more pathetic man.
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u/boofles1 9h ago
This is a crazy story. A Republican donor with no government position walks into the White House and suggests a foreign policy change and Trump just does it, then they both deny doing it and blame each other for it. And Musk seems to have done it because he is annoyed about Russian data centres being destroyed.
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u/Thirdwhirly 10h ago
The notable points here are that the president was part of the conversation and Musk’s company is under contract with the government. It doesn’t matter who approached whom.
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u/Im_TroyMcClure 10h ago
So Trump and Elon deny doing it but turns out it was both of them.
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u/-super-hans 10h ago
Why is any government in the world willing to give him a contract like this in the future at this point?
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u/Ok_Campaign_2366 Missouri 8h ago
Elon Musk is an enemy of the people. He should be considered an enemy combatant.
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u/vthemechanicv 10h ago
I know we didn't know who started it, but we knew trump gave the ok/order and Musk pushed the button. They're both traitors to the US, by aiding Russia, so the details can go to the lawyers.
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u/AdCharacter7966 10h ago
Musk wants Trump to win the midterm so he can get lower taxes himself. By all means, regardless of innocent lives at risk
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u/DunAnOir 10h ago
Because a trillion dollars isn't enough to live on, the poor guy. The penury of it. Oh woe!
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u/Vin-Metal 10h ago
Just from a business standpoint alone, I think he did a lot of damage to his company all for his love of Russia. Of course I don't know how anyone still does business with him after Doge.
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u/MalevolentTapir 10h ago
So basically he went crying to Trump for permission to throttle starshield during a Russian attack? That isn't quite the story he was telling.
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u/CrunchyAssDiaper 10h ago
Imagine putting critical infrastructure in the hands of Elon Musk. That should be an impeachable error.
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u/pantsmeplz 10h ago
Oooh, this is getting good. They're turning on each other.
For once, this is a good reason for the media should throw gas on this fire. Trump, Musk, et al are enemies of American and democracy.
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u/Hiken0808 10h ago edited 9h ago
Conspiracy theorists will see this happening right after ukraine bombs a russian data center and right wing bot accounts go silent and go "Nah is clearly not related"
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u/captainschnozzberry 10h ago
Musk and Trump have called for Ukraine to end the Russian invasion. Not quite adding up.
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u/Separate-Afternoon44 7h ago
And people will continue to our purchase Tesla vehicles and not cancel their own Starlink. Stop funding this POS!
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u/GoneSilent 10h ago
Members of both sides with the House and Congress are going to be looking at this few statements out.
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u/Belichick12 10h ago
So Elon asked Trump to throttle it down. Trump then told the military to throttle it down. The military then told Elon to throttle it down. Elon blamed the military. Trump blamed Elon.
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u/Common_Ebb_162 10h ago
We live in a country now where a sitting Congresswoman with opinions is an enemy and a Communist dictator is a friend.
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u/Morden013 9h ago
I distinctly remember people saying there might be a chance for Musk as he turned on Trump.
Fucking simpletons.
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u/throwawaylol666666 California 10h ago
Deport. Now. We already know he lied on his immigration docs.
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u/VulfSki 10h ago
Lol accusations flying back and forth.
They are both fucking complicit and to blame you know how I know?
They are both accusing each other for doing it, acknowledging it is a bad call, but they aren't reversing course...
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u/WarbossTodd 10h ago
I love that these guys are leaking shit about each other to various news orgs trying to throw them under the bus
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u/Healingbigfoot 9h ago
We need a 1700's France period
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u/FreyrPrime Florida 9h ago
You know France immediately gains an Emperor following the end of the Revolution?
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u/Helpful-Beginning553 9h ago
Trust in an ally takes years to build… this trust was America strongest advantage.
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u/biskino 9h ago edited 8h ago
Musk had to leave his home country because his people were so fucking vile that Nelson Mandela won a Nobel Peace Prize for talking his countrymen out of slaughtering the lot of them.
He is a committed, out there, fascist and white supremist. The core beliefs about humanity that were engrained in him since birth have ruined every society that has adopted them.
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u/Photochromism 9h ago
This only happened because the Russian troll / bot farm got taken out by Ukraine. Elon and Trump only exist because of the fake support they have from Russian trolls and bots.
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u/GatorNator83 10h ago
I’m shocked! Well, not that shocked. Not shocked at all. In fact it was quite obvious.
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