The White House grounds now have access to Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service. According to the New York Times, Starlink’s terminals—the rectangular antennas that receive the signals—are not installed directly on the grounds. Instead, the network is routed through a White House data center a few miles away.

elon musk new york times
Elon Musk, boss of SpaceX, is a senior adviser to US President Donald Trump. Photo: New York Times

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Starlink would boost Wi-Fi connectivity at the president's office. Some locations on campus do not have the network and the current Wi-Fi infrastructure is overloaded.

According to the New York Times, in February, Chris Stanley - a security engineer working for two of Musk's companies, SpaceX and X - climbed to the roof of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus to review the installation of Starlink equipment.

The newspaper’s source said that when Stanley opened the door to the roof of the building – located opposite the White House entrance – he accidentally tripped the Secret Service alarm, creating a “movie-like” scene as a plainclothes official rushed to respond. Another source said the Secret Service had agreed to let Stanley check the roof but had not yet scheduled a time for him.

White House spokesman Harrison Fields said the White House does not consider this an incident or a breach of security. Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi echoed that sentiment.

Starlink has donated its services and has been vetted by ethics lawyers at the White House Counsel’s Office, according to White House officials. But Clare Martorana, former White House CIO under former President Joe Biden, pointed out that ordinary people can’t simply provide technology to the government. The White House CIO and the CIO of the Civil Service would have to approve the new system to ensure it’s secure.

One of the New York Times ' sources said Stanley coordinated with the White House information technology office to install the Starlink system here.

(According to New York Times)