Donald Trump's co-conspirator Elon Musk was on a call made to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy the day after the presidential election, Axios first reported on Friday.
Musk was with Trump at Mar-a-Lago when Zelenskyy called with his congratulations for what was described as a "positive and cordial conversation."
Trump put the call on speaker and Zelenskyy thanked Musk for his help with providing communications through Starlink to Ukraine in the ongoing war with Russia. The call was roughly seven minutes long, and no policy was discussed, according to Axios.
Zelenskyy previously tweeted that he called Trump on Wednesday and congratulated him on “his historic landslide” win. “We agreed to maintain close dialogue and advance our cooperation. Strong and unwavering US leadership is vital for the world and for a just peace,” Zelenskyy posted. He also reportedly asked both not to abandon Ukraine, a longstanding American ally.
Russia's response was to immediately increase its strikes across Ukraine.
In Ukraine, Musk’s Starlink internet service has provided a significant frontline advantage to Ukraine’s smaller military since the 2022 invasion, permitting its forces to share real-time drone feeds between units and communicate in areas where combat has disrupted cellphone service. But it was also rumored he turned off a Starlink above Taiwan to give an advantage to the Chinese.
Musk was also a stand-in for Trump's wife, Melania, in a congratulatory family photo shared online by Trump's younger and oft-forgotten daughter, Tiffany. Melania has been conspicuously absent for most of Trump's campaign, and many Twitter pundits started referring to Musk as Trump's "new First Lady."