U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has specifically directed State Department officials to pressure countries challenged by President Donald Trump’s global tariff war to approve deals with Starlink, the satellite internet company led by top Trump donor Elon Musk, according to an exclusive Washington Post report.

“As the government of Lesotho negotiates a trade deal with the United States, it hopes that licensing Starlink demonstrates goodwill and intent to welcome U.S. businesses,” an internal State Department memo obtained by the Post states.

Lesotho is one of more than a half-dozen nations that have approved or are in the process of approving deals with Starlink in efforts to fend off President Trump’s tariffs. There are two distribution deals in India, and “at least partial accommodations with Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Vietnam,” likely among others.

One State Department cable signed by Secretary Rubio was an “action request” that cited Starlink “by name” and argued that “U.S. government advocacy is essential to maintain and extend their global ‘first-mover’ advantage.”

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The documents that the Post obtained “do not show that the Trump team has explicitly demanded favors for Starlink in exchange for lower tariffs.” But the direct pressure campaign comes “at a moment when the White House is calling for wide-ranging talks on trade.”

One of the people briefed by officials in India told the Post, “It’s not likely to be an explicit element of the trade negotiations with the U.S., but the Indian side sees this as an important lubricant that facilitates a deal.”

The U.S. Department of State did not appear to deny efforts to support and promote Starlink.

“Starlink is an American-made product that has been game-changing in helping remote areas around the world gain internet connectivity,” the State Dept. said in a statement. “Any patriotic American should want to see an American company’s success on the global stage, especially over compromised Chinese competitors.”

Growing adoption of Musk’s Starlink had not previously gone unnoticed.

Last week, in a letter to President Trump, Democratic lawmakers called for an investigation into Elon Musk’s Starlink deals, accusing the billionaire of “the possibility of self-dealing” while in government, NBC News reported. “13 senators led by Mark Warner, D-Va., wrote that Starlink seemed to make sudden breakthroughs this year in at least five countries that previously resisted giving the company footholds there.”

The lawmakers alleged that “Musk is reportedly taking advantage of his government role to coerce concessions from foreign governments for his own benefit, including unfettered market access as well as contracts with his companies, in exchange for favorable treatment by the U.S. government.”

And last month, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow (video below), citing a Wall Street Journal report, noted that “Vietnam has been trying to fend off harsh treatment under Trump’s tariffs by number one, buying American jets. Number two, allowing the Starlink Internet service that’s owned by Donald Trump’s top campaign donor, Elon Musk, to operate inside their country.”

“And number three, here’s the kicker: Vietnam also ‘decided to accelerate the approvals for a $1.5 billion Trump resort in Vietnam.'”

Meanwhile, critics are speaking out over the State Department’s reported role.

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“More evidence of President Trump’s soft corruption,” claimed the X account for Senate Foreign Relations Committee Democrats. “Trump is using his power to enrich himself and his friends — allowing Elon Musk to use the State Department as a salesforce for Starlink globally.”

The X account for House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats added, “And there it is. Trump is telling Americans to pay more and buy less because of his reckless tariffs, @SecRubio is apparently leveraging them to make Elon Musk richer. This looks like one big grift for Trump and his MAGA billionaire backers.”

The Atlantic’s David Frum remarked: “The second Trump administration is the most corrupt presidency in American history, more corrupt than the next runner-up: the first Trump administration.”

“This is a huge new scandal,” alleged U.S. Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX). “Trump and Musk are using tariffs as leverage to get other countries to buy from Musk’s companies. Working families pay $4,000+ more a year so Musk gets new deals. They get richer. Everyone else gets screwed.”

“Everything is a shake down,” charged former prosecutor, public defender, and Democratic Media consultant David Doak.

“This is what a corrupt oligarchy looks like,” wrote Melanie D’Arrigo, VP of legislation for the NY National Organization for Women.

Public Citizen, the progressive consumer advocacy group and think tank, wrote that “Trump is using official trade policy to promote Musk’s satellite business Starlink. This is a glaring conflict of interest. Government policy should be designed to benefit the American people, not abused for personal tech bro profiteering.”

“Corruption pure and simple!” exclaimed Michael Nelson, a self-described tech policy wonk.

“Clearly the best way for countries to evade tariffs is by licensing Starlink and paying for it in Trump meme coins,” snarked The Bulwark’s Sam Stein.

Jonathan Cohn, the policy director for the nonprofit Progressive Mass called it “shameless mob-boss corruption.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

ICYMI — Maddow on the WSJ saying Vietnam is looking to let in Musk’s Internet company Starlink and Greenlight a $1.5 Billion Trump resort to get favorable tariff treatment.

Almost like this was always the point. The Golden Age of Corruption. pic.twitter.com/PpdqPPijXc

— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) April 20, 2025

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Image via Reuters

President Donald Trump had for weeks been claiming that his administration was in talks with China over his tariff war, while also claiming that President Xi Jinping had called him — a claim China disputed. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later admitted that the administration had not been talking to China, but talks are now planned for this weekend in Switzerland.

“China, we have not engaged in negotiations with as of yet,” the Treasury Secretary said on Tuesday, The New York Times reported.

Trump imposed a massive 145% tariff on Chinese imports, a source of contention among the Chinese and many Americans.

On Tuesday, Bessent was asked on Fox News if it was “likely” that he would be able to go back to Trump and say, “to show good faith, we could drop this down in the interim to 50%?”

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And while he said, “I’m not gonna give away our strategy,” Bessent also said, “look, everything’s on the table. It’s up to the president at the end of the day.”

Ahead of the talks with China, President Trump Wednesday afternoon was asked by reporters if he would consider lowering the high tariff “to get China to the negotiating table?”

“No,” was the president’s one-word response.

“Trump has defended the 145% tariffs on Chinese imports, claiming China ‘deserves it’ and would likely absorb the costs,” Yahoo Finance reported Wednesday. “But those comments contrast with efforts inside the administration to consider phased tariff reductions and revive trade talks.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

hours after Bessent left the door open to lowering tariffs on China, Trump says he’s not open to pulling back tariffs on China pic.twitter.com/XALqGUv6jM

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 7, 2025

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The nonpartisan U.S. Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has released its report on five separate Republican proposed policies to slash federal spending on Medicaid, a program that currently serves about one in five Americans. The report finds that under the GOP proposals, millions of Americans would be kicked off and have no medical coverage.

The CBO report shows that 2.3 million and nearly nine million Americans would be kicked off Medicaid, based on the proposed Republican cuts to the critical safety net program. Those cuts would lead to no insurance for about half of the Americans removed from the program. The proposals would reduce the federal deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars, but those savings are expected to be used to pay for the Trump administration’s tax cuts, which are largely expected to benefit wealthy Americans the most.

The President has called that legislation his “big, beautiful bill,” but the Congressional Black Caucus calls the proposals “the largest Medicaid cut in history.”

As far back as a decade ago, President Donald Trump vowed, “I’m not going to cut Social Security like every other Republican, and I’m not going to cut Medicare or Medicaid.”

In March of this year, a White House “fact check” insisted, “The Trump Administration will not cut Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits. President Trump himself has said it (over and over and over again).”

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The Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank, finds that: “No matter how these tax cuts are financed, the result will hurt most working families, especially low-income households. The most damaging way to finance TCJA [Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act] extensions would be with spending cuts for programs like SNAP or Medicaid.”

It’s unclear if the House would vote to enact one, several, or perhaps all of the proposals, although Politico reports House Speaker Mike Johnson has said a proposal that would kick 5.5 million off Medicaid is off the table.

“The House Energy and Commerce Committee has been tasked with reducing the deficit by $880 billion, and Republican leaders are eyeing changes to Medicaid to achieve a large portion of that total amount,” Politico adds. “Republicans are coalescing around work requirements for beneficiaries, more frequent eligibility checks in the program and cracking down on coverage for noncitizens. But as they look for more significant savings, divisions have only grown, with hardliners pushing for even steeper cuts and moderates increasingly wary.”

But about six in ten non-senior (19-64 year-old) Medicaid enrollees are already working. Of the 40 percent who are not, barriers include being in school, being a family caregiver, illness or disability, or being unable to find work, according to KFF.

Two top Democrats requested the CBO report: U.S. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, and U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey.

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“Republicans continue to use smoke and mirrors to try to trick Americans into thinking they aren’t going to hurt anybody when they proceed with this reckless plan, but fighting reality is an uphill battle,” Senator Wyden said in a statement. “The bottom line is that the Republican bill is going to cut health care for kids, seniors, Americans with disabilities and working families, and Democrats are going to fight to stop it.”

One Republican who has been outspoken about limiting cuts to Medicaid to $500 billion, U.S. Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, says he is open to increasing work requirements and stepping up eligibility checks—which are administrative costs—but blasted his colleagues who want to pass a bill with massive proposed reductions of up to nearly $900 billion, along with the way they are attempting to do it.

“Here’s the tactic they’ve been using: ‘Don’t worry about the Senate. They’ll fix it.’ And now we’re getting ready to take our third vote on this,” Bacon said, according to The Wall Street Journal. “We feel like we’re being pushed up to the edge of the cliff here.”

See an announcement by U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA), below or at this link.

There it is: as Democrats have warned, new analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office confirms that each GOP proposal to cut Medicaid will lead to millions of Americans losing health insurance coverage. pic.twitter.com/0DETEQ8J9U

— Matt McDermott (@mattmfm) May 7, 2025

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