President Trump said Elon Musk saved many lives in North Carolina after the state was ravaged by Hurricane Helene.

“He saved a lot of lives in North Carolina, he saved a lot of lives,” Mr. Trump said in a joint interview with Elon Musk by Sean Hannity that aired Tuesday night on Fox News Channel.

Mr. Trump praised Mr. Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, for providing his Starlink satellite internet service to those in North Carolina in the wake of the destruction wrought by Helene.

The service made communication with the outside world possible, even in hard-hit isolated areas that might have spotty internet and other communications even in the best of times.

“In North Carolina where they were really in trouble, they had no communication, people were dying, they were dying of starvation,” he said.

“They had no communication. They said, ‘You know, Elon Musk?’ They didn’t really know I knew him. I said, ‘Yeah.’ He said, ‘Could you get Starlink?’  It’s like the first time I ever heard of it,” Mr. Trump said. “I said, ‘What’s Starlink?’ A communication system. That’s unbelievable.”

Mr. Trump said he explained to Mr. Musk that the hurricane victims really needed the service and Mr. Musk agreed.

“He got it immediately. And you can’t get it. I mean, you have to wait a long time to get it,” Mr. Trump said. “But he got it to them immediately. And I said that’s pretty amazing.”

• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.