The Trump administration quietly paid Elon Musk’s SpaceX nearly $1.2 million through federal contracts for Starlink services at the White House, despite earlier describing the installation as a free gift.
SpaceX received four federal contracts between March 2025 and June 2026 for Starlink services provided to the White House Communications Agency, a military unit that manages secure communications for the president and executive officials, according to The Washington Post. The disclosures contrast with statements from White House officials in March 2025, who asserted that the satellite internet service had been donated to the government.
Contracts Totaling Nearly $1.2 Million Disclosed in Public Records
Public contracting data reveals that the Pentagon set aside the funds for SpaceX to carry out work at the presidential complex. The nonprofit watchdog Democracy Defenders Fund identified the first three deals, which totaled around $502,000. The Washington Post subsequently uncovered a fourth contract valued at $686,000, bringing the total to nearly $1.2 million.
When the equipment was installed in February 2025, members of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cost-cutting drive arrived at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building to set up the hardware without advance notice to officials responsible for existing communications systems. Around that time, staffers observed a network named “Starlink Guest” appearing on their mobile devices before it was removed. Then-White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated at the time that the work was intended to improve Wi-Fi connectivity on the complex
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Ethics Concerns Follow Transactional Arrangements
Virginia Canter, chief counsel at the Democracy Defenders Fund, voiced alarm over the arrangement in statements to The Washington Post.
I’m very concerned. We worry about pay-to-play access and these kinds of transactional arrangements. When someone is given this access and subsequently given these government contracts, you have to wonder if these government contracts are in the best interest of the taxpayer.
Virginia Canter, chief counsel at the Democracy Defenders Fund
At the time of the initial installation, administration officials told The New York Times that the gift had been vetted by the lawyer overseeing ethics issues in the White House Counsel’s Office
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Congress Plans Oversight of Federal Contracts
Additional oversight is expected from the incoming Democratic Congress, which plans to examine dealings between federal agencies and Musk’s companies.
According to a report from the Democracy Defenders Fund, Musk’s companies have netted at least $10 billion in new government contracts during the 17 months since he publicly split with President Donald Trump. Musk recently responded to political developments on his X platform, writing, Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now,
and Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn’t work this time.