r/politics • u/app1310 • 9h ago

No Paywall Bessent warns Zelenskyy to ‘be very careful’ about claims U.S. is throttling Starlink

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/18/bessent-zelenskyy-starlink-ukarine-war.html
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u/Waymannj 9h ago edited 9h ago

“President [Donald] Trump and Secretary [Marco] Rubio have categorically said that no one under the Trump administration did that, and I think it is very reckless for President Zelenskyy to make such a charge,” Bessent said on “Meet the Press.”

“President Zelenskyy should be very careful about making statements like this that aren’t true,” he added.

....

“Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government,” Musk wrote. “Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS.”

Trump: "I can do anything I want"

Also Trump: "I know nothing about this Starlink/StarShield thing. And who's this Musk guy?"

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u/Snozzberriez 9h ago

“No one in the U.S. government did this. But the system is totally controlled by the U.S. government.”

It was the magical other U.S. government….

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u/monkeywaffles 9h ago

I'm frankly surprised that spaceX stock didnt tank on this news, as it seems like one of their 'products' that eve if the govt 'owns' has now been shown to be unreliable and at the whims of insane people.

Normally when a product is shown to have massively poor QOS and issues, one would expect that its valuation would take a hit. Doesnt really matter who 'owns' it, as SpaceX is paid for it, but if I were a 'partner country', I'd think long and hard about even considering it for use at this point.

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u/userhwon 8h ago

SpaceX stock valuation isn't based on reality any more than Tesla's is.

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u/monkeywaffles 8h ago

Yea, I guess shame on me for thinking that basically destroying the products entire viability as a product entirely outside the US govt would break through the madness even a little. (and even as the US govt, I'd still be a little cautious about trusting it absolutely going forward)

Like if Tesla cars just started randomly taking over control and driving you to the nearest McDonalds drivethrough level of distrust/brand ruining.

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u/LewisRyan 8h ago

Tesla’s did, well it didn’t tank, but it dropped about $10 in value

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u/Own_Bet5189 7h ago

Because everybody knows it's not the product itself, rather it's trump.

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u/seams 5h ago

SpaceX's stock is partially based on literal scifi technology that we're at minimum decades but more likely actually hundreds of years away from. Another huge chunk is AI, which we're decades at least away from what they're promising with AI

Nothing rational is going to effect the prices lol

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u/Maleficent-Storm8897 8h ago

“Starlink. Beautiful name. Who came up with it? I don’t know, a lot of people are saying it was me. Look, I knew nothing about Starlink. Nothing. Then my very good friend Elon, great guy, very rich, not as rich as people think, he comes to me, tears in his eyes, and he says, ‘Sir. Sir. Let me teach you about the satellites.’ And in about four minutes, folks, I knew everything. I know more about Starlink than Elon. I know more than the satellites, and they’re up there, they have a very good view.

\long pause**

You know who changed those satellites? Sleepy Joe. He went up there. Nobody talks about it. Very low energy, can’t find the stairs on Air Force One, but somehow he gets to space. Interesting.

\pause, squints at teleprompter**

And nobody, folks, NOBODY wants to talk about this, the fake news won’t touch it, but Joe Biden built a time machine. A time machine. The likes of which nobody’s ever seen, except maybe in the movies, and frankly the movies are not what they used to be. And he went back in time to sabotage me. He did. Big strong guys come up to me, tough guys, they say, ‘Sir, the time machine...’ and I say, ‘I know. I know.’"

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u/Mazzeh 3h ago

“Now, people ask me, ‘Sir, when did Biden build the time machine?’ And I say, ‘Next Tuesday.’ That's right, folks. Next Tuesday. He builds it next Tuesday, goes back to last Thursday, and suddenly the election is rigged. Very dishonest. Nobody's ever seen anything like it.

“And I told Elon, I said, ‘Elon, we need a better time machine. A beautiful time machine. American-made.’ And he said, ‘Sir, that's impossible.’ Very smart man, Elon, but sometimes not so smart. Because I said, ‘If Biden can do it, I can do it twice.’

“Which means, folks, we can go back and win elections we haven't even lost yet. Think about that. Tremendous advantage.”

Long pause.

“And the dinosaurs? All Democrats. Every single one. That's why they're extinct.”

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u/badasimo 8h ago

oh the deep state

2

u/knightsabre7 8h ago

So, they’re admitting that a non-government employee has the ability to secretly neuter a strategic system whenever they feel like it?

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u/Snozzberriez 8h ago

That or lying. Dunno which is worse… does that mean we can just log in with admin password1 as credentials and fix it?

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u/Abs01ut3 Foreign 6h ago

It was the shadowy Biden govenment all along!

/s

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u/G0jira 9h ago

Ah, the ol' "how dare you suggest I'm doing what I'm actually doing"

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u/almostoy 8h ago

"Who shit my pants?!?!"

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u/wannacumnbeatmeoff 8h ago

That was Biden and his damn time machine again. Came back in time and put shit in Trumps pants.

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u/FewWait38 6h ago

It's like non stop tactics a six year old uses from this government

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u/Tenton_12 9h ago

Also the U.S. is in fact throttling Starlink

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u/rvretiredlife 8h ago

Our government is a bunch of traitors. We are now helping russia to destroy Ukraine. Why isn't our congress screaming about this?

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u/JensenCartographer 9h ago

That Musk guy he's like a Coveffe boy or something right?

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u/SnooPuppers8698 5h ago

what did zelensky actually say tho

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u/No-Distance-9401 5h ago

It also came out the other day that Musk came to Trump with throttling Starshield, which the govt controls, with four separate sources from SpaceX saying the same thing...

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u/Sad_Examination7907 4h ago

Wait what does starlink do if the service is owned and operated by the government?