Elon Musk made appearance on Trump-Zelensky call
The SpaceX owner was only briefly on the call with the Ukraine president, but his presence shows the billionaire’s unprecedented access to the future US president.
When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called to congratulate President-elect Donald Trump on his successful White House run, an unexpected visitor dropped in on the conversation: Elon Musk, who has been promised a role in the new administration.
Musk’s appearance on the call, which was first reported by Axios, wasn’t co-ordinated, according to people familiar with the conversation, but he happened to walk into the room right as Trump and Zelensky were speaking.
Trump conducted the call from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Trump acknowledged the billionaire owner of SpaceX, whose Starlink satellite service is used widely by Ukraine’s forces, and Musk said hello, prompting Zelensky to say hello back.
Zelensky then noted he was using Starlink for the conversation, and Musk replied that he would keep sending more Starlink ground stations to Ukraine and then left the room.
The brief Musk-Zelensky interaction, detailed by people familiar with the contents of the call, shows the unprecedented access Musk has to the future US president and the role he could play in the forthcoming administration. As Trump considers how to end the war between Ukraine and Russia, Musk, who has held multiple phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin, could hold some sway over the final plan.
Spokespeople for the Trump campaign and transition didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Musk didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
Musk wasn’t officially part of the call, the people familiar with the Trump-Zelensky discussion said, and the engagement lasted mere seconds. They described Musk’s remark about sending Starlink terminals more as friendly banter.
Still, Musk’s control of Starlink makes him a big player in the future of the Ukraine-Russia war. Their introduction on to the battlefield gave Ukrainian forces internet access in remote places, providing them an advantage against the Russian forces.
Russian troops have also obtained Starlink terminals of their own, narrowing Ukraine’s technological advantage and complicating its defence.
The Ukrainian side felt the call with Trump went well, one of the people said, and didn’t come away thinking that his administration would immediately end US military support for Ukraine.
“Good, positive atmospherics,” the person said, “but no specifics discussed.”
A spokesman for Zelensky didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
On the campaign trail, Trump promised he would convince Ukraine and Russia to lay down their arms and end the war before his inauguration.
Trump has far more leverage over Zelensky to get him to the table, given Ukraine’s reliance on US military assistance.
Getting Putin to negotiate, as his forces have been making progress on the battlefield, could be a harder proposition for the incoming president.
– James Marson contributed to this article.
Dow Jones Newswires
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