NASA Head Says WSJ Report of Musk’s Talks With Putin Should Be Investigated
Bill Nelson said account of multiple conversations between the billionaire and the Russian president was concerning
Elon Musk’s secret conversations with Vladimir Putin are drawing attention from top leaders at NASA, the space agency that increasingly relies on Musk’s SpaceX to carry out key missions.
The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Musk and Putin have been in regular contact since 2022. The discussions, confirmed by several current and former U.S., European and Russian officials, touch on personal topics, business and geopolitical tensions between Putin and the world’s richest man.
Putin asked Musk to avoid activating his Starlink satellite internet service over Taiwan as a favor to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, according to the Journal reporting.
“I don’t know that that story is true. I think it should be investigated,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said Friday at a Semafor conference in Washington, D.C. “If the story is true that there have been multiple conversations between Elon Musk and the president of Russia then I think that would be concerning, particularly for NASA, for the Department of Defense, for some of the intelligence agencies.”
Musk didn’t deny details in the Journal’s reporting but alluded to the story in multiple posts on his social-media platform X. In one instance, he posted two laughing emojis in response to a user joking that Musk could be a Russian agent.
A spokesman for SpaceX didn’t respond to a request for comment.
White House officials said they were aware of the Journal story on Friday. “I’ve seen the reporting out of The Wall Street Journal,” said John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council. “I’m not in a position to corroborate the veracity of those reports, and we would refer you to Mr. Musk to speak to his private communications.”
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D., N.H.) said on X that the Defense Department “must investigate this and evaluate how it relies on commercial services like Musk’s.” Shaheen is a member of the Senate’s committee on foreign relations and its armed services committee.
Musk has deep business ties with U.S. military and intelligence agencies. SpaceX, which operates the Starlink service, works on classified government programs and is also the primary rocket launcher for the Pentagon and NASA. Musk has a security clearance, giving him access to certain classified information.
“If all of this is confirmed, it’s a very serious concern. Elon Musk is very deeply embedded in our national security apparatus,” said Rep. Jim Himes (D., Conn.), the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.
Knowledge of Musk’s Kremlin contacts appears to be a closely held secret in government. Several White House officials said they weren’t aware of them. The topic is highly sensitive, given Musk’s increasing involvement in the Trump campaign and the approaching U.S. presidential election, less than two weeks away.
A representative for the Air Force, parent organization of the Pentagon’s Space Force, declined to comment. The National Reconnaissance Office, an intelligence agency that frequently works with SpaceX, including during a launch Thursday, declined to comment.
NASA and SpaceX have developed a close relationship, with the company launching major scientific missions for the agency on its rockets and transporting astronauts to and from the International Space Station. SpaceX’s Starship vehicle plays a key role in NASA’s lunar exploration plans.
Musk’s activities have at times generated worries at the space agency. After the executive purchased Twitter, the social-media platform he renamed X, NASA’s Nelson said he asked SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell if that deal would divert from SpaceX’s mission. According to Nelson, Shotwell said that it wouldn’t.
NASA said separately on Friday that SpaceX returned three agency astronauts and one Russian cosmonaut from the space station.