U.S. Backing Musk’s Starlink Is Problematic... and Necessary
American trade officials push approvals for the satellite service in negotiations – not just to benefit Trump’s billionaire ally, but to secure U.S. intelligence and influence.
The internet is becoming less grounded. Literally.
Thousands of miniature satellites now orbit the Earth, extending high-speed connectivity to even the most remote corners. Satellite internet isn’t just a commercial innovation; it’s a strategic asset. In Ukraine, it has kept lines of communication open amid Russian efforts to cripple terrestrial infrastructure. Increasingly, satellite networks like Starlink are becoming tools of statecraft.
According to The Washington Post, the U.S. State Department has quietly encouraged other countries to approve Starlink’s market access, often in parallel with trade negotiations. In Lesotho, for instance, a long-delayed Starlink license was granted shortly after the Trump administration announced 50 percent tariffs on the country’s goods.
Cables obtained by The Post suggest similar patterns in India, Cambodia, Mali, and other developing nations. “The documents do not show that the Trump administration has demanded favors for Starlink in exchange for lower tariffs,” The Post reported. “But they indicate that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has instructed officials to push for regulatory approvals for Musk’s satellite company.”
Critics argue that this push smells of favoritism, particularly as Musk is a major financial backer of President Trump; he spent $277 million to support Trump’s return to the White House and has been a vocal participant in administration policymaking. That criticism carries weight, especially considering that Starlink’s global expansion – actively facilitated by U.S. embassies – will bring significant financial gain to Musk at a critical time.
While SpaceX remains one of Musk’s bright spots, his flagship company, Tesla, is struggling under global backlash. Sales have slumped in key international markets amid consumer boycotts tied to Musk’s support of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – a Trump-era oversight bureau—and his vocal alignment with far-right politics. In Europe and parts of Asia, Tesla’s brand has eroded significantly, and the company’s market share has dropped as buyers shift to rival EV makers.
According to recent estimates, Musk has lost nearly a quarter of his fortune due to the compounded effects of political blowback and Trump administration economic policies, particularly those disrupting foreign markets where Tesla operates.
This context complicates the government’s support for Starlink. On the one hand, it aids a politically connected billionaire, and on the other, it reinforces U.S. influence in a rapidly fragmenting global internet landscape.
An estimated 30 to 40 percent of global internet traffic still passes through American Tier 1 networks, internet exchange points, and cloud data centers. Chokepoints like Ashburn, Virginia – home to the world’s largest concentration of data centers—process up to 70 percent of internet traffic at some point. That positioning gives the U.S. both economic leverage and unmatched intelligence-gathering capabilities.
In strategic terms, whoever controls the infrastructure controls the intelligence—and ultimately, the influence. Control over the infrastructure that routes and processes internet traffic is vital to U.S. national security. It enables global surveillance, supports military communications, and ensures economic dominance in a digitized world. As more internet infrastructure moves beyond U.S. jurisdiction, especially into space, maintaining influence becomes harder and more urgent.
That edge is eroding as new systems, particularly in orbit, are built by geopolitical competitors. China is accelerating the development of its GuoWang LEO satellite network to bypass Western internet infrastructure and build a sovereign communication stack. Traffic routed through Chinese systems is harder to intercept, encrypted by design, and shielded from U.S. oversight. U.S. visibility into foreign communications could shrink dramatically if these networks gain dominance in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
This risk helps explain why The Post also reported that Rubio “has increasingly instructed officials to push for regulatory approvals for Musk’s satellite firm at a moment when the White House is calling for wide-ranging talks on trade.” In one diplomatic cable, officials asserted that “U.S. government advocacy is essential to maintain and extend [Starlink’s] global ‘first-mover’ advantage.”
Starlink, a division of Musk’s SpaceX, isn’t the only U.S. player in the satellite internet space – Amazon’s Project Kuiper and HughesNet are credible alternatives – but it is the most advanced and widely deployable today. That reality has prompted the U.S. to prioritize Starlink in its diplomacy, not necessarily because it’s Musk’s company, but because it’s the most effective tool for asserting American internet influence abroad.
The controversy over Musk’s personal politics and financial entanglements is valid. But in global internet infrastructure, strategic necessity often overshadows individual reputations. As much as Starlink’s expansion may help Musk financially, it also allows the United States to preserve informational dominance at a time when China and Russia are building closed, state-controlled networks.
The same rationale for restricting Huawei from global 5G networks now applies to space-based infrastructure: dependency means vulnerability.
In a world where fiber routes and terrestrial exchanges no longer define internet power, orbital real estate is the next battleground. If the U.S. doesn’t secure its position now, others – most notably China—will. As distasteful as it may be to see U.S. diplomacy boost Starlink and, by extension, Elon Musk, that support may ultimately serve broader American interests. Even if it gives Starlink an edge over other U.S. satellite providers, preserving global access to American-aligned infrastructure may be worth the cost.