Brett Murphy
The Trump Administration Leaned on African Countries. The Goal: Get Business for Elon Musk.
In early February 2025, Sharon Cromer, U.S. ambassador to Gambia, went to visit one of the country’s Cabinet ministers. It had been two weeks since President Donald Trump took office, and Cromer had pressing business to discuss. She needed the minister to fall in line to help Elon Musk. Starlink, Musk’s satellite internet company, had spent months trying to secure regulatory approval to sell internet access in the impoverished West African country. As head of Gambia’s communications ministry, Lamin Jabbi oversees the government’s review of Starlink’s license application.