Trump urges Elon Musk to expand Starlink in Iran to combat internet shutdowns

WASHINGTON — President Trump has called on Elon Musk to ensure the stability of Starlink satellite internet services in Iran, aiming to bypass government-led blackouts during a period of violent crackdowns on protesters.

The White House confirmed the conversation between Trump and Musk. The move follows reports that thousands of people have been killed by Iranian authorities during recent unrest.

SpaceX, the operator of Starlink, was reportedly working to resolve connectivity issues in the region before the president’s outreach. Iranian government jamming technology had previously caused Starlink packet loss rates to surge between 30% and 80%.

A support group for Iranian users said a recent update has since reduced those loss rates to approximately 10%. However, the group described the technical battle as a "cat and mouse game."

While Starlink is illegal in Iran and security forces have been confiscating satellite dishes, the service continues to receive high-level support from Washington.

In 2022, the Biden administration issued a general license allowing U.S. companies to provide internet services to the Iranian public to promote the free flow of information.

President Donald Trump’s direct intervention in Starlink’s operations in Iran marks a pivotal shift in the deployment of private-sector technology as a primary lever of U.S. foreign policy. While the move reflects an escalation rather than a total departure from precedent—the Biden administration established the regulatory lane for Starlink in Iran back in 2022—Trump’s approach is more overt and personalized. By involving himself directly, he has effectively transformed a commercial entity into a quasi-official actor within the American geostrategic framework.

This development highlights a new theater of engagement: the technological front in the standoff between authoritarian regimes and their citizens. The ongoing "cat-and-mouse" game between Iranian signal-jamming techniques and SpaceX’s software updates has become the defining image of 21st-century information warfare. It serves as a reminder that providing unrestricted internet access is not a one-time fix, but rather a perpetual technological arms race.

For nations that maintain rigorous control over their digital domestic environments, such as Vietnam, the Iranian precedent is particularly salient. The ability of a U.S. company, backed by the weight of the federal government, to provide uncensored connectivity poses a sophisticated challenge to the concept of digital sovereignty. While there are currently no signs of a similar scenario emerging in Vietnam, the situation in Iran establishes a clear blueprint for how satellite technology can be utilized to circumvent state-mandated information barriers.

While this event has no direct impact on business operations or remittances—from local phở restaurants to the nail salon industry—nor does it change the status of F2B, H-1B, TPS, or EB-5 visas, it highlights a defining reality for the Vietnamese diaspora. It reflects a shared reliance on new technology to bypass state-controlled information, allowing the community in Little Saigon and across the U.S. to stay informed and engaged with political developments back home.