SpaceX’s Starlink has become a big benefactor of Trump’s tariff trade war, leaked memos show

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SpaceX’s satellite internet service, Starlink, is directly benefiting from the Trump Administration’s tariff trade war, according to leaked State Department memos obtained by the Washington Post.  

The memos show the U.S. pushing countries to adopt Starlink. Some show that countries believe that doing so could help lubricate their U.S. trade and tariff negotiations. One memo about the tiny African nation of Lesotho, which the U.S. imposed a 50% tariff against, flat-out said so about its new 10-year deal with Starlink, the Post reported.

Elon Musk is the founder CEO of SpaceX and one of the Trump administration’s closest advisors. A White House spokesperson told the Post there was no conflict of interest. The State Department described the work of pushing deals for an American satellite company as “patriotic” in light of competition from China. SpaceX did not immediately respond to our request for comment.