Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk have been involved in secret talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin since the end of 2022, according to a report published Thursday by The Wall Street Journal.
Citing “several US, European and Russian officials now and then,” the Journal reported that the conversation between Putin and Musk, a Republican megadonor and Pentagon contractor, came as Russia waged a brutal war in Ukraine, a top US ally. Topics range from business to personal and geopolitical issues.
In one instance, Putin forced Musk to direct SpaceX to stop Starlink, a powerful satellite internet communications service, from Taiwan as a favor to Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Journal reported, citing two people briefed on the request. Beijing is an important ally for the Kremlin. The version of Starlink available for military use is called StarShield.
Speaking at the Semafor conference in Washington DC on Friday, NASA administrator Bill Nelson said, “If the story is true that there are multiple conversations between Elon Musk and the president of Russia, then I think it will be a problem, especially for NASA, the Department of Defense, for some agencies intelligence.” He also said the matter “must be investigated.”
CNBC has not independently verified the conversation, which the Journal described as “closely confidential” even within the US government.
But the report raises new questions about how Musk makes decisions at the company that affect geopolitics and national security, such as where and when to activate Starlink satellite communications technology. The question extends to how Musk operates social network X, which he owns and leads as CTO.
Musk has been a major Republican donor this election cycle, and was one of the most influential supporters of former President Donald Trump’s campaign.
Elon Musk hugs Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show on October 05, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Anna Moneymaker Getty Images
In September, the chairman of the House committee on China, Rep. Mike Gallagher returned from a visit to Taiwan with a congressional delegation, where they learned that StarShield is not operational for American forces in and around the region. He sent a letter to SpaceX demanding that the company activate it.
As NBC News previously reported, Musk and SpaceX said they were in compliance with the Pentagon contract, and denied the House claims. SpaceX later sought majority ownership of the Starlink-based venture requested by Taiwan, a proposal the island nation rejected, saying it was inconsistent with its laws.
Currently, SpaceX’s website says that “date of service is unknown at this time,” for Starlink in Taiwan for general customers.
Musk and representatives for X, SpaceX and Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Russia’s KGB, and its successor agency the FSB, have for decades been interested in controlling the media narrative and reaching large numbers of people with anti-Western or pro-Kremlin messages. The conversation between Musk and Putin, who once ran the KGB, reportedly came as Musk was in the midst of a buyout and takeover of Twitter.
SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn Falcon 9 rocket sits at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A as it prepares for another attempt at liftoff on September 9, 2024 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Joe Raedle Getty Images
Before it became known, Musk had participated in discussions with Putin directly.
In 2022, Eurasia Group founder and political analyst Ian Bremmer wrote that Musk had spoken with Putin before the X owner posted a social media message in early October about Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Musk has proposed that Ukraine hand over Crimea to Russia and that Kyiv should remain “neutral” instead of trying to join NATO. He continues to promote the idea, via X (before Twitter) that some Ukrainians prefer to join Russia.
Kremlin officials praised Musk for his views later, while Musk drew criticism from many others, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Sen. Lindsay GrahamRS.C., and Russian-born human rights activist and former chess champion Garry Kasparov.
Musk closed the acquisition of Twitter for $ 44 billion on October 27.
“I have spoken to Putin only once and that was about 18 months ago,” Musk said at the time. “The basic material is space.”
About a year later, in September 2023, Putin publicly praised Musk, calling him a “talented entrepreneur.” Putin’s praise came after Musk said he had rejected an emergency request from the Ukrainian government to extend the coverage of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites to Sevastopol in Crimea. Putin made the comments at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia, where he spoke about Russia’s space program following the failed moon landing.
The Starlink satellite internet system is set up near the frontline town of Bakhmut amid the Russian offensive in Ukraine, Donetsk region, Ukraine March 8, 2023.
Lisi Niesner Reuters
Previously, Musk actively pursued business with Russia in the company SpaceX and Tesla for several years.
“I went to Russia three times to try to buy some of the biggest (intercontinental ballistic missiles),” Musk told an audience at the SXSW interactive conference in 2013, where he described the challenges of starting a reusable rocket business.
While the missile deal never materialized, SpaceX was partially funded by Russian technologist Yuri Milner, who has deep ties to Silicon Valley companies. And SpaceX now regularly carries out missions with NASA astronauts and cosmonauts from Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, although diplomatic collaboration of this type is typical in the aerospace industry.
Musk and SpaceX are credited with inspiring the creation of the Commercial Space Act by Republican then-Rep. The Rohrabacher Fund, which passed in 2004, allows private sector companies to provide launch services to federal agencies.
Rohrabacher represented Orange County, California, in the House for 30 years, but lost his re-election bid in 2018. That defeat was partly due to Rohrabacher’s publicly acknowledged communications with the Kremlin, which included a meeting in Moscow in 2016 that disturbed US intelligence officials.
Musk’s Tesla has strengthened its supply chain ties to Russia more recently, buying millions of euros worth of aluminum from Rusal starting in late 2020, as CNBC first reported. Rusal was founded by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska who was sanctioned and once approved by the US Treasury Department, which called Russia’s “nefarious activities” at the time. The sanctions were lifted under Trump in 2019.
If Trump wins, he has promised Musk a role in the “government efficiency” commission, which he said he would make on the advice of the technology magnate. The role will give Musk influence over federal agencies including those tasked with making sure he and his company comply with federal law.
Speaking at the Economic Club of New York in September, Trump said the commission would be “tasked with conducting a comprehensive financial and performance audit of the entire federal government.” Trump has repeatedly said Musk will lead the commission but not necessarily leave the company.
