It may not be the monetary amount but the message it sends.

Mess with me and Ill shut you down.

Unlikely. No one really cares about temporary low-value ad-hoc arrangements like the one between Starlink and USAID. It's too small to matter.

The FAA and EPA have been much much bigger headaches for Musk.

USAID was just a juicy target, since it was essentially a slush fund.