Trump’s new Ukraine showdown runs deeper than Starlink

A dispute over who throttled a military satellite network used by Ukraine has pushed relations between Washington and Kyiv to their lowest point since last year's Oval Office blowup, CNN reports. The Starshield system, a defense version of Elon Musk's Starlink, is owned by the U.S. government, and the limits slowed Ukrainian drones and hampered communications and aircraft operations, which favored Russian forces. Musk wrote on X that the U.S. military and ultimately the president set such restrictions, yet two senior U.S. officials told CNN the order did not come from President Donald Trump, and some officials blame Musk. Reuters, however, reports that White House insiders issued it.

The feud has other fronts. Trump announced a purchase of Russian diesel, and his administration then threatened to cut intelligence-sharing with Ukraine unless it stopped hitting Russian refineries. Russian strikes later left 600,000 people without power, and Kyiv said the usual American warning before a ballistic missile attack never came. CNN also reports that Ukraine has exhausted its Patriot missiles.

President Volodymyr Zelensky responded by vowing to resume refinery attacks. Trump told Newsmax he finds Zelensky harder to deal with than Vladimir Putin.

Summarized by PolitiKool from CNN’s reporting. Read the full story at CNN →