U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) fired back at tech billionaire Elon Musk after he accused the Navy veteran of being a “traitor.”
Kelly, a combat Navy veteran and retired astronaut, posted a statement supporting Ukraine on social media platform X on Sunday after he visited the war-torn country over the weekend. He took aim at the Trump administration for pausing aid to the country, arguing that the pause “has only made it harder for Ukraine in their fight against Russia.”
Musk—one of President Donald Trump’s most powerful advisers—criticized Kelly on Monday over his post on X.
“You are a traitor,” Musk commented.
Kelly responded to Musk’s comment in another post on Monday.
“Traitor? Elon, if you don’t understand that defending freedom is a basic tenet of what makes America great and keeps us safe, maybe you should leave it to those of us who do,” Kelly wrote on X.
Kelly emphasized his support for Ukraine in his social media posts and criticized Trump for cutting off aid to the country.
“This war started with what Putin thought would be a three-day operation to take Kyiv and control of all of Ukraine. Now three years later, that hasn’t happened. American and allied support has been a big reason why, but I saw how cutting it off now risks everything so many Ukrainians have laid down their lives for. And while our support hasn’t been free, we haven’t sent even half of what President Trump says,” Kelly said in his post.
The U.S. relationship with Ukraine has been strained since Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office last month, accusing him of being “disrespectful.” The heated encounter drew backlash from world leaders and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, with many critics accusing Trump of trying to appease Russia.
Trump later ordered a pause on military aid and intelligence sharing to Ukraine shortly after the meeting. Now, U.S. officials are meeting with Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia this week about possibly bringing an end to the Russia-Ukraine war.
Trump remains focused on reaching some kind of peace deal to stop the war. His approach toward Ukraine so far has relied far more on stick than carrot — limiting their access to intelligence and weaponry. While conciliatory toward Putin, Trump recently also threatened new sanctions against Russia over its ceaseless attacks on Ukrainian cities.
If Ukraine and the U.S. reach some sort of understanding acceptable to Trump, that could accelerate his administration’s push to talks. However, the rest of Europe remains skeptical as they have been sidelined from the talks. The European Union last week agreed to boost the continent’s defenses and to free up hundreds of billions of euros for security.
