Trump wants those minerals and he wants them now. He believes he will be hailed as a big hero, the prince of peace, if he obtains Ukrainian natural resources as compensation for the U.S. military support and then forces them to surrender to the murderous dictator who invaded them. He really believes that.
His latest “negotiating” tactic is to issue a threat to Ukraine that if it doesn’t turn these resources over, Trump’s personal executioner will cut them off:
U.S. negotiators pressing Kyiv for access to Ukraine’s critical minerals have raised the possibility of cutting the country’s access to Elon Musk’s vital Starlink satellite internet system, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Ukraine’s continued access to SpaceX-owned Starlink was brought up in discussions between U.S. and Ukrainian officials after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy turned down an initial proposal from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the sources said.
Starlink provides crucial internet connectivity to war-torn Ukraine and its military.
The issue was raised again on Thursday during meetings between Keith Kellogg, the U.S. special Ukraine envoy, and Zelenskiy, said one of the sources, who was briefed on the talks.
During the meeting, Ukraine was told it faced imminent shutoff of the service if it did not reach a deal on critical minerals, said the source, who requested anonymity to discuss closed negotiations.
“Ukraine runs on Starlink. They consider it their North Star,” said the source. “Losing Starlink … would be a massive blow.”
Imminent shutdown. How many people do you suppose would die as a result of all communications being shut off during as the war still rages? (Russia has been mercilessly bombarding Kyiv for the last couple of weeks.)
I would normally say that no country should never be dependent on one madman for essential communications equipment. But now that Musk is the U.S. government, what difference does it make? If Trump wants Ukraine punished, as he obviously does, or if Musk simply wants to please his pal Vlad, they could do this and there would be nothing anyone could do about it.
Would Trump and Musk do it? I have no doubt. We are a gangster state now.