First posted on Instagram
Elon Musk fired back at former Labor Secretary Robert Reich after Reich called for Democrats to lay the groundwork for nationalizing Starlink and SpaceX and turning them into a public corporation. Replying to a post by Collin Rugg quoting Reich, Musk wrote: “Stealing companies is a serious crime. Prison for Reich.” Reich, as quoted by Rugg, had said: “Democrats ought to [start] laying the groundwork for nationalizing Starlink & SpaceX... It should be a public corporation.”
Reich’s nationalization call follows his broader “defund Musk” campaign. In an Oct. 15, 2026 post, Reich urged an end to government contracts with Musk, breaking up his monopolies, and a wealth tax. Reich presented those steps as a way to reduce Musk’s power, while Musk has presented Reich’s proposals as attacks on his companies.
The exchange comes amid a wider debate over nationalization after the reported Starlink slowdown affecting Ukraine. Democratic senators wrote to SpaceX on Oct. 19 seeking answers by Nov. 2. Musk, for his part, has drawn a distinction between Starlink and Starshield, which he describes as government-controlled, a distinction his critics and supporters have treated differently in the debate over who should control satellite communications used in wartime.
The stakes, as both sides present them, turn on control and innovation. Supporters of nationalization argue that critical wartime communications should not rest on one private owner’s discretion. Musk and critics of nationalization, by contrast, call the seizure of a private company a serious crime and warn that it would kill innovation. Neither side, in the posts at the center of this exchange, offered a detailed plan for how such a takeover would work.