GOP Senator John Cornyn Blasts Elon Musk’s ‘Shameful’ Ukraine Starlink Curbs

Senator John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, said in an interview with Aaron Rupar that he does not believe Elon Musk would slow down satellite service Ukraine's military relies on without "at least the acquiescence" of the White House. He called the move "frankly shameful."

His remarks came after a Wall Street Journal report that Musk personally ordered the slowdown. Rupar asked Cornyn whether the throttling was being done "at the behest of the white house and the president or that was being done as a private citizen."

"I don't believe that Elon Musk would do this ... without at least the acquiescence of the ... White House," Cornyn replied, "and ... I think it's ... frankly shameful."

Cornyn did not say the White House or President Donald Trump ordered the slowdown, and he did not claim to have independent knowledge of what happened. His point was that he doubts Musk acted with no sign-off at all.

What the Wall Street Journal Reported

According to the Journal, Musk ordered a slowdown of Starshield, the military-grade version of SpaceX's Starlink service, CBS News reported. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Starlink cut out at speeds above 161 kilometers per hour, about 100 miles per hour, Fortune reported.

The accounts of who decided conflict. The Telegraph reported that Musk proposed the speed caps to Trump and that Trump approved them, Fortune reported. That account bears on Cornyn's point about acquiescence, though Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called reports of White House involvement "categorically false." Musk spoke with administration officials and sought "clarity on the president's thinking," CBS News reported.

Musk and the administration have each pointed away from themselves. Musk wrote on X that "any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS," which puts the decision on others and contradicts the Journal's account that he ordered the slowdown. Trump told reporters, "I don't know who it was, but I'd like to find out," and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said, "We haven't pulled anything back," CBS News reported. Rubio said "no one at the White House ordered anyone to slow down internet," Fortune reported.

Zelensky, interviewed on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday, said the throttling reflected "a message from [the] American government to limit the speed," Fortune reported.

Musk's Control Over Ukraine's Connection

This is not the first time Musk's personal decisions about Starlink have shaped Ukraine's war effort:

• 2022: Musk refused a Ukrainian request to activate Starlink "all the way to Sevastopol" for a strike on Russia's fleet near Crimea. He confirmed the refusal in September 2023, after an excerpt from Walter Isaacson's biography of him was published, CBS News reported.
• June 1, 2023: The Pentagon confirmed it contracts with Starlink for satellite service to Ukraine but withheld the cost and terms.
• March 9, 2025: Musk wrote that Starlink is "the backbone of the Ukrainian army" and that "their entire front line would collapse if I turned it off," the Kyiv Independent reported.

Cornyn Joins Bipartisan Push for Answers

Cornyn had already gone on record before this interview. He was among a bipartisan group of nine senators who signed a letter. The letter asks the Pentagon's inspector general whether any U.S. officials "directed" or "authorized" changes to Starlink and Starshield service affecting Ukraine.

In the House, Representative Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican, told CBS's Face the Nation that "there needs to be an investigation" because "lives are at risk," CBS News reported. North Dakota Republican Senator Kevin Cramer was more cautious and backed investigating the source of the decision, "if in fact it was a decision at all."

Cornyn Says Vladimir Putin Will Not Stop at Ukraine

Cornyn widened his answer into a warning about Russia. "I think we should be supporting ... the victim not the aggressor in ... this conflict," he said. "Putin is a stone cold killer and he's not going to change."

He said Russian President Vladimir Putin is driven by a wish to restore the Russian empire and warned, "I don't believe ... he'll stop at Ukraine." Cornyn said Putin is "already threatening some of our NATO allies." That, he said, raises the question of whether the U.S. would be called on under Article 5, the treaty's mutual-defense clause, to come to Europe's aid.

Cornyn said Europe has had relative peace since World War II because of the alliance between the United States and its European allies. "Anything we do to undermine that or degrade that is a ... big mistake," he said.