Trump, Rubio both deny ordering Starlink slowdown in Ukraine as mystery deepens

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday that Ukraine does not have access to Starshield, the US military's satellite communications system, and that the White House had no involvement in the recent disruption to Ukrainian forces' use of Starlink.

Rubio made the remarks to reporters at Joint Base Andrews near Washington before departing for Uzbekistan, according to AP and other outlets.

"Starshield is a product for the US military," Rubio said, adding that it is "a completely different product" from Starlink.

"It has nothing to do with Ukraine," he said. "My understanding is that Ukraine requested access to Starshield to strike deep into Russian territory. At this point, Ukraine does not have that access, and discussions are ongoing."

Rubio maintained that the satellite service Ukrainian forces used for their drones was the commercial Starlink, not the military Starshield.

Asked about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's claim that the service restrictions were intentional, Rubio said: "I don't know what he said, but it was not intentional. Nobody ordered the speeds to be reduced."

On allegations that a White House official had ordered the slowdown, he said, "Nobody at the White House ordered it," adding that as of two days earlier — Thursday — Starlink was "back to working normally."

Reuters reported Saturday, citing US and Western officials briefed on the matter, that the order to restrict the satellite system used for Ukrainian battlefield communications and drone operations had originated inside the White House.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote on X on Wednesday that "all restrictions on the speed and use of the Starshield system are determined by the US military and, ultimately, the US president."

Starshield is a military satellite communications system built on Starlink, the commercial satellite internet service operated by SpaceX.

Ukrainian forces had relied on the US-provided satellite communications service to attack key Russian facilities and shoot down Russian attack drones.

In recent weeks, Ukrainian military terminals lost access to the system or experienced severely degraded speeds, drawing sharp protests from Kyiv.

President Donald Trump also denied ordering the Starshield disruption, deepening the mystery over who was responsible.

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Saturday before departing for Georgia, Trump said, "That wasn't me. It probably wasn't Elon," according to Reuters and Bloomberg.

"I don't know who else did that," Trump added. "As far as I know, it's the same as it was before."

Trump's remarks amounted to a denial that he had any role in restricting Ukraine's Starshield access or degrading its speeds, and an assertion that the system was functioning as it had been.

Reuters had previously reported that when it sought comment from US officials, it was told the disruption was a decision made by the White House.

The outlet also cited two anonymous US officials and one Western official as saying the Starshield disruption was deliberate and carried out on White House orders.

The White House denied those accounts — a denial Trump effectively reinforced by insisting he had issued no such order.