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Trump administration officials said the company donated the internet service, saying the gift had been vetted by the lawyer overseeing ethics issues in the White House Counsel’s Office.
- March 17, 2025, 9:58 p.m. ET
Starlink, the satellite internet service operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is now accessible across the White House campus. It is the latest installment of the Wi-Fi network across the government since Mr. Musk joined the Trump administration as an unpaid adviser.
It was not immediately clear when the White House complex was fitted with Starlink after President Trump took office for a second term.
Starlink terminals, rectangular panels that receive internet signals beamed from SpaceX satellites in low-Earth orbit, can be placed on physical structures. But instead of being physically placed at the White House, the Starlink system is now said to be routed through a White House data center, with existing fiber cables, miles from the complex.
White House officials said the installation was an effort to increase internet availability at the complex. They said that some areas of the property could not get cell service and that the existing Wi-Fi infrastructure was overtaxed.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said the effort was “to improve Wi-Fi connectivity on the complex.”
But the circumstances are different from any previous situation to resolve internet services. Mr. Musk, who is now an unpaid adviser working as a “special government employee” at the White House, controls Starlink and other companies that have regulatory matters before or contracts with the federal government. Questions about his business interests conflicting with his status as a presidential adviser and major Trump donor have persisted for weeks.
