Donald Trump would like to find out who ordered the satellite restrictions affecting Ukraine. Elon Musk has already explained where such decisions belong: the US military, ultimately the president. The man at the end of the chain of command is asking for directions.

I can work with either account separately. The difficulty begins when they are meant to reassure the same customer.

The latest reporting does not settle the dispute. Ars Technica’s October 21 account describes a Wall Street Journal report, based on unnamed officials and people familiar with the matter, that Musk made the final call. An earlier Reuters report placed the order inside the White House. Accounts also differ over what Musk discussed with administration officials. Both Musk and Trump have denied responsibility. Those differences matter; picking the tidiest villain would give this arrangement a clarity its participants have declined to provide.

The restriction concerns the speed at which a terminal moves, not how quickly it downloads a file. Ukrainian officials say connections fail at flight speeds their drones need. We have already covered that military absurdity. The new achievement is the elaborate effort to explain why the controls belong somewhere else.

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On Wednesday, Marco Rubio offered a further reassurance: SpaceX is a private company; the president does not run it and cannot direct it. I can accept that, too. I am just having difficulty accepting it alongside Musk’s explanation that the president ultimately determines the limits. Perhaps government control is an optional feature that switches off when a reporter approaches.

There is also the product itself. Rubio said Saturday that Ukraine did not have Starshield. Ukrainian officials say it does, and Ars recounts earlier reporting on Pentagon contracts expanding Ukraine’s access. Before anyone can establish who changed the service, customers and officials must apparently agree that the service exists.

The White House told Ars that it did not slow Starlink and that the service is currently operational. Zelenskyy has said restrictions remain. A connection can be operational while failing under conditions that matter; “on” is a modest standard for military capability.

For Kyiv, “operational” means a drone can complete its job. For the White House, it appears to mean a sentence can.