Report: Trump Administration Ignored Advice When Installing Starlink at the White House

The Trump administration and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team allegedly ignored advice from White House communications advisers when DOGE staff installed Starlink at the White House earlier this year.

The Washington Post reports that those with authority over White House communications systems were not informed in advance when DOGE representatives installed a Starlink terminal in the nearby Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

Improperly configured Wi-Fi networks can pose a serious cybersecurity risk to organizations, enabling people outside the organization to log into the Wi-Fi network in a worst-case scenario.

The Post’s anonymous sources claimed that White House staff managing the systems could not monitor the Starlink connection to prevent the leakage of sensitive information or unauthorized access. Its sources allege that a Wi-Fi network called “Starlink Guest” appeared on White House phones in February, prompting users only for a password, not a username or a second form of authentication. This Wi-Fi network was reportedly still present on White House visitors’ phones this week.

The sources couldn’t say whether the Starlink rooftop terminal is still installed at the time of writing or what would happen to the technology following Elon Musk’s departure from the Trump administration.

SpaceX has yet to offer an official comment on the reports, but Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said: “We were aware of DOGE’s intentions to improve internet access on the campus and did not consider this matter a security incident or security breach.”

The report comes as more government organizations are looking to protect themselves against the potential risks of relying too heavily on SpaceX’s technology, and it’s not just Starlink that is raising concerns.

The Post reported earlier this week that both NASA and the Pentagon have urged SpaceX competitors to speed up their development of alternative rockets and spacecraft, amid the ongoing feud between Musk and President Trump.

Earlier this week, Musk threatened that SpaceX would stop flying its Dragon spacecraft, an important part of NASA operations, which supplies the International Space Station with vital cargo like food and fuel. One anonymous source said Musk’s threat to decommission Dragon was “really terrifying,” though Musk rescinded the threat less than 24 hours later.

About Will McCurdy

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I’m a reporter covering weekend news. Before joining PCMag in 2024, I picked up bylines in BBC News, The Guardian, The Times of London, The Daily Beast, Vice, Slate, Fast Company, The Evening Standard, The i, TechRadar, and Decrypt Media.

I’ve been a PC gamer since you had to install games from multiple CD-ROMs by hand. As a reporter, I’m passionate about the intersection of tech and human lives. I’ve covered everything from crypto scandals to the art world, as well as conspiracy theories, UK politics, and Russia and foreign affairs.

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