Rubio says no one at the White House ordered the slowdown
Marco RubioU.S. secretary of state
Rubio said no one in the U.S. government ordered the Starlink speed restrictions, called the report of a White House order categorically false and said service had been restored.
“It’s just categorically false. No one at the White House ordered anyone to slow down internet or slow down speed so that certain drones couldn’t use it.”
Original text
Where this statement fits
Who bears responsibility for Ukraine's October 2026 Starshield restrictions?
Elon Musk said the U.S. military and ultimately the president decide Starshield usage and speed limits. Benjamin Dixon argued that SpaceX still bears responsibility as the contractor. Ukrainian officials and U.S. lawmakers criticized the October restrictions and demanded answers about who authorized them.
Source and context
Original text
About this source
State Department transcript of Rubio's remarks to reporters at Joint Base Andrews before his trip to Uzbekistan.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Asked whether the United States had anything to do with the disruption, Rubio said it was not deliberate, that nobody in the United States ordered the Starlink speed slowed and that his understanding was that service had been restored.
After the quotation
Rubio said Starlink is a commercial product and Starshield a military product under contract with the U.S. military, and that Ukraine does not currently have access to Starshield, which it has requested for deep strikes inside Russia.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is responsibility for the October restrictions on Ukraine's satellite terminals. Rubio denies that the White House or anyone in the U.S. government ordered them.
- Recorded on
- Published here
More from this case
Read the full caseBessent says Zelensky should be careful about untrue statements
“President Zelensky should be very careful about making statements like this that aren't true”Read statement
Trump denies ordering the Starshield restrictions
“I didn't do that. No, we didn't do that at all. In fact, I don't even think it was slowed down from what I understood. Because I just checked this morning”Read statement
McFaul blames Trump for Starshield restrictions and defends Zelensky
“our president who, by turning off Starshield, is actively helping Putin kill Ukrainian civilians as a strategy to pressure Zelenskyy”Read statement
Share or embed this statement
The embed keeps its attribution link to The Dispute Index. Credit the image to The Dispute Index and link to the statement page.
Cite this record
- Publisher
- The Dispute Index
- Title
- Rubio says no one at the White House ordered the slowdown
- First published
- Last updated
- Permalink
- https://disputeindex.com/events/6155-rubio-said-no-one-in-the-u-s
Last updated marks the most recent saved version of this published statement.
The Dispute Index. "Rubio says no one at the White House ordered the slowdown". First published: 2026-10-20. Last updated: 2026-10-20. https://disputeindex.com/events/6155-rubio-said-no-one-in-the-u-s