Trump Is Right: Elon Is Crazy

Republicans say that America is in grave danger, so much so that the Trump administration has invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to justify shipping legal American residents to foreign torture gulags. The official Trump position, supported by every Republican Senator and Congressman, is that America is under an “invasion” and engaged in “irregular warfare” with those deported. In the simplest of terms, Republicans assert that America is at war.

Okay, so be it. A state of war triggers vast powers of the state, including those detailed in the Defense Production Act of 1950, that enable the nationalization of key industries. When Democrats next control Congress, they should use the authority of the Defense Production Act to defend America by nationalizing Elon Musk’s Starlink and SpaceX.

The 1950 Act was the third in a series of similar laws first passed upon the US entry into World War I. In its various forms, it has been used to take control of railways and industries key to defense, such as steel production and mining. In 1970, the Defense Production Act was amended to include space activity. It clarified the scope of industries that fall under the Act’s powers. “The term 'defense contractor' means any person who enters into a contract with the United States for the production of material or the performance of services for the national defense."

My fellow Americans, that’s Elon Musk. The United States Space Force – I don’t know if I will ever not feel ridiculous typing those words – has billions of dollars in contracts with SpaceX and Starlink. A sixth-grader would be embarrassed to claim that having these key defense industries in the hands of an unstable man with deep personal issues, including reported heavy drug use, is not a danger to American security.

We’ve already seen Elon Musk inserting himself into the largest war in Europe since the end of World War II. And with disastrous consequences. In September 2022, at what could have been a turning point for Ukrainian victory, Musk denied the Ukrainian government’s request to extend Starlink coverage to Crimea. In an attack on Russian warships in Sevastopol Bay, Elon Musk personally ordered the termination of Starlink service to the sea drones the Ukrainians were using in one of the first of their brilliant asymmetrical strikes...