Rubio says Starlink slowdown in Ukraine is a private contract issue, not a White House order

Senator Marco Rubio asserted that the recent reduction in bandwidth for Ukraine's Starshield system was governed by SpaceX's private contract, not a directive from the White House. He said he was unaware of any advance notice about the slowdown and that the decision falls under the company's service terms. This stance conflicts with reports suggesting that President Donald Trump and White House officials discussed or ordered the cut, claims both Trump and the administration have refuted.

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth echoed Rubio's view, describing the interruption as a commercial issue rather than a policy decision. Senate Democrats warned that the slowdown, which occurred during a congressional delegation's visit to Kyiv, put U.S. staff and 230 American personnel at risk by limiting the speed of defensive drones against fast Russian Shahed drones. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said both Starlink and Starshield services were disrupted, while SpaceX and Musk have not commented.