U.S. DOGE Service leader Elon Musk on Monday called Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Arizona) — a decorated Navy pilot and former NASA astronaut — a traitor in a post on X after the senator visited Ukraine and expressed his support for the country in its war with Russia.
The incident underscores the hostile attitude of the Trump administration toward perceived adversaries and its striking turnabout of policy toward Russia and away from Ukraine.
“You are a traitor,” Musk wrote in response to Kelly’s posts.
Kelly replied: “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, who flew dozens of combat missions in the Middle East as a Navy pilot and took four NASA missions to space, also told reporters at the Capitol later Monday that Musk is “not a serious guy” and that he “should go back to building rockets.”
“He’s slashed and burned the federal government to make room for a giant tax cut for billionaires like himself,” Kelly said, referring to Musk’s work leading the U.S. DOGE Service. “I’ve sworn an oath to this country, flown in combat, I served in the Navy for 25 years. It appears to me the oath that Elon Musk stands by is the oath of billionaires, to make their lives easier, not the American people, not veterans.”
The Democratic senator’s trip to Ukraine was his third since Russia invaded the country in 2022. The trip came a week after President Donald Trump’s blowup at an Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during which Zelensky asked for assurance that the United States would support Ukraine if Russia violated any peace deal struck between the nations.
Trump — who was urging Ukraine to engage in peace talks with Russia and sign a deal giving the United States access to its minerals — then paused U.S. military assistance and intelligence briefings to Ukraine. After Russia stepped up attacks on Ukraine on Friday, Trump threatened sanctions but later expressed understanding for Russia’s actions.
In recent weeks, Trump has also made headlines for inaccurately calling Zelensky a dictator and falsely claiming that Ukraine started the war, when, in fact, Russia invaded Ukraine.
Zelensky indicated willingness to sign the minerals deal after Trump cut off military aid, and Ukrainian and U.S. officials are set to resume talks this week at a meeting in Saudi Arabia. Kelly told reporters Monday that he spoke with Ukrainian officials about the mineral deal during his weekend visit, and said he believed that the deal was “never” in question.
Kelly, in his social media posts, said Trump owed Americans an explanation for “trying to weaken Ukraine’s hand.”
“Everyone wants this war to end, but any agreement has to protect Ukraine’s security and can’t be a giveaway to Putin,” Kelly said, emphasizing that the pause in U.S. military aid “has only made it harder for Ukraine in their fight against Russia.”
Kelly also accused Musk of showing little respect for veterans as Musk has worked to cut government programs and agencies with DOGE, which stands for Department of Government Efficiency, though it is not a Cabinet-level agency. DOGE has fired roughly 6,000 veterans from government jobs, and the Trump administration has announced plans to cut 80,000 jobs from the Department of Veterans Affairs, where military veterans make up about a quarter of the workforce.
Musk’s name-calling of Kelly drew reaction online. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) called Kelly a “patriot,” noting that he has served in combat and commanded NASA missions into space.
“For Donald Trump and Elon Musk, if you don’t bend the knee — you’re a traitor,” Warren wrote. Kelly, she said, “believes in freedom and democracy — including for Ukraine.”
And chef José Andrés, the founder of relief organization World Central Kitchen, invited Musk to visit Ukraine with him.
“You should travel with him or myself to @Ukraine and see for yourself that Ukranians [sic] are good people fighting for freedom and democracy,” Andrés wrote to Musk on X. “Tell me dates that you are free and we go?”
Spokespeople for the White House and DOGE did not respond to requests for comment.
