Donald Trump and Elon Musk still are not speaking, but the breakup does not appear like it will bring an end to the free advertising that Musk got for himself in the White House. In a press conference on Monday, Trump told reporters that he is going to keep the Starlink internet connection that was installed at the presidential residence earlier this year, calling it “a good service.”
Trump also threw some cold water on the idea that he was going to sell his Tesla that he bought earlier this year as a favor to Musk while Tesla was the subject of protests and the company’s stock was tanking. “I may move the Tesla around a little bit,” he said, but he didn’t say he intended to sell it. When asked what “moving it around” means, Trump just said, “I have a lot of locations.” Okay! The Tesla is currently at the White House, where it’s available for staffers to use.
While Trump intends to keep Starlink connected at the White House, security experts sure wish he wouldn’t. The service, which was reportedly installed by DOGE earlier this year, per the Washington Post, went up without the approval of the people who manage White House communications systems. They were unable to monitor activity on the network, which was only protected by a prompt asking users to provide a password. By comparison, the White House’s primary WiFi network requires people to create a username and password in order to connect, and those accounts expire after one week. So, that’s not ideal.
Trump could use the security concerns as a way to ditch Musk, but he’s really doing his best to remain cordial about the whole situation—a shock for a guy who is not exactly known to be above petty potshots and insults. He went so far as to say on Monday, “I wish him well. We had a good relationship and I just wish him well, very well actually.” So while the two still aren’t talking, Trump isn’t fanning the flames.
And while Trump may not be ditching his Musk-related equipment, the rest of the government may not be so loyal. The Washington Post reported this weekend that officials at both NASA and the Pentagon started pushing SpaceX competitors to step up and offer alternatives to the services provided by the Musk-backed venture. The reason isn’t petty or vindictive, but rather safety-related: Musk threatened to decommission its Dragon spacecraft, which is essential for transporting astronauts to the International Space Station. The agencies simply can’t rely on a guy who could just one day declare he’s not going to complete an essential service they are counting on and contracted out to him.
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