Trump Says He Spoke to Musk About Getting Internet to Areas Hit by Hurricane

An evening launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 20 Starlink V2 Mini satellites, from Space Launch Complex at Vandenberg Space Force Base is seen over the Pacific Ocean from Encinitas, California, U.S., June 23, 2024. (REUTERS/Mike Blake)

(Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Monday he spoke to billionaire Elon Musk about getting Starlink internet access to areas affected by Hurricane Helene, which has torn through the U.S. Southeast, killing more than 100 people across six states.

Trump made his remarks in Georgia. Musk has endorsed the former U.S. president in the Nov. 5 elections, in which Trump faces Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.

"I just spoke to Elon," Trump said in his remarks. "We want to get Starlink hooked up because they have no communication whatsoever and Elon will always come through."

Trump added: "We are going to try and get the Starlink in there as soon as possible."

Starlink, Musk's satellite broadband company, is a unit of SpaceX. Starlink controls nearly two thirds of the world's active satellites and is the only high-bandwidth internet system covering the entire planet.

 

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Chris Reese)