Democratic senators call for an investigation into the recent Starlink trade agreements
Starlink, the Elon Musk satellite constellation, which is managed by SpaceX, has drawn the attention of the legislators. Democratic senators this week called for an investigation to find out if the Trump administration uses commercial negotiations for the benefit of Musk.
In a letter addressed to federal officials, notably the Attorney General Pam Bondi and the acting director of the American Office for Government Ethics Jamieson Greer, a group of Democratic senators wrote: “Musk could use its official role and its proximity to the president as a lever for his own personal and financial advantages – even if it costs the expensive American consumers and the interests of the foreign policy country.”. “”
The letter comes shortly after Musk accompanied Trump to Saudi Arabia during the first trip abroad of the president of his second term and announced the approval of Starlink in Saudi Arabia while the White House shared its new defense and commercial agreements. The senators, including Elizabeth Warren (D-MASS.), Mark Warner (D-VA.), And Jeanne Shaheen (DN.H.), noted that Starlink has an “aggressive objective” to obtain a million new customers each year. However, Starlink “had trouble obtaining agreements to work in certain emerging markets” and its growth seemed slow last year. But then things have changed.
“Since President Trump took office and Musk has become a Trump advisor to Trump, Starlink has seen a rush of new countries allowing the company to enter their markets,” the senators wrote. For example, Lesotho awarded Musk his very first satellite internet service license shortly after Trump hit the country with high prices. Senators have also highlighted recent agreements with other countries “in search of a stay of the threat of unpredictable prices of the Trump administration”, in particular India, Vietnam and Bangladesh.
The letter specifically mentions two articles from the Washington Post. First of all, an editorial detailing that a Bangladais manager met Musk at the White House in February immediately after a commercial meeting. There, Musk suggested that the country “would not be able to obtain favorable commercial conditions” without granting Starlink access to Bangladesh. And then, a report in which the post detailed how the internal documents he obtained show that civil servants “pushed the nations to identify obstacles for American satellite companies, often mentioning Starlink by name”. Although nothing shows the Trump administration “demand explicitly[ing] Favors for Starlink in exchange for lower rates, “the post reported that the State Department declared to managers to put pressure for regulatory approvals.
“Suggesting that a foreign government adopts the Star link in exchange for aid on prices seems to be a case of corruption of textbooks,” said the senators, while asking for an investigation on the question of whether those responsible “have continued an exchange of quid-quo of Starlink access for pricing favors in violation of ethical ethical laws”.
In addition, senators have written that the participation of the State Department raises additional concerns, in particular if “these officials could reverse the public’s interest in favor of Mr. Musk’s personal financial interests when they negotiate new tariff agreements – and if they were led by [Musk] Or [Trump] To do it. The senators asked the Inspector General of the State Department investigating this issue.
