Elon Musk decided to restrict Ukraine's access to SpaceX's Starshield satellite service after conversations with Trump administration officials, according to reporting that challenges his earlier assertion that Washington determines limits on the system.
The Wall Street Journal first reported Musk's role, and people familiar with the matter gave a similar account to CBS News. The restrictions disrupted Ukrainian drone operations, while President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said they had not identified or issued an order to reduce service.
Musk sought clarity about Trump's thinking before proceeding, the reports said. He has expressed discomfort with SpaceX being viewed as profiting from the continued war, although the precise mechanism used to implement the restrictions remains unclear.
"Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS," Musk wrote on X last week. He did not respond to CBS News's request for comment.
Some administration officials were surprised by the slowdown, telling CBS that neither Trump nor the Pentagon specifically ordered restrictions intended to disrupt battlefield communications and drone missions.
"I don't know who it was, but I'd like to find out," Trump said Monday.
Hegseth similarly denied that the Pentagon had directed a change, while pointing to service conditions that could permit SpaceX to act.
"We haven't pulled anything back. There are terms of service that ultimately need to be complied to," Hegseth told reporters Tuesday. "We haven't made any directives or anything like that."
Those accounts conflict with an earlier Reuters report that Defense Department leaders received a message from the White House directing that the system be slowed. Reuters's sources did not identify who made the decision or transmitted the instruction.
For Ukraine, the immediate consequences were operational. Officials and soldiers told CBS that Starshield equipment began experiencing sudden problems late Tuesday last week, including connection losses that prevented fast-moving drones from completing missions.
Starshield provides military satellite services to the U.S. government and its partners using technology similar to SpaceX's civilian Starlink network. Ukrainian forces rely on it for communications and maintaining contact with drones over long distances.
Ukrainian units reported losing connections at speeds as low as 90 kilometers an hour, CBS reported. Strike drones using the equipment typically cruise at 160 kilometers an hour or faster, making the restrictions consequential for mid-range attacks.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the limits also hindered efforts to intercept Russian Shahed drones. On Tuesday, he said he had discussed restoring Starlink and Starshield service with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators has requested an investigation by the Pentagon's internal watchdog. Republican Rep. Mike Turner also called for answers, citing the danger to Ukrainian lives.
Separately, Zelenskyy told U.S. senators Monday that the Pentagon was delaying Patriot interceptor missiles already paid for by Europe.
"The missiles are ready and they could already be in Ukraine," he said, adding that "unfortunately, there is still no approval."
A senior Pentagon official told CBS on Monday that there had been "no change to Department of War policy regarding intelligence sharing or any capabilities we are enabling Europeans to provide to Ukraine."
