Trump Assures Stranded Astronauts: ‘We’re Coming Up To Get You’
President Trump reassured astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been stranded aboard the International Space Station for almost a year, stating, “We’re coming up to get you,” as reports indicate that Elon Musk is preparing to send a SpaceX capsule in approximately two weeks.
During an event on Thursday, Trump, 78, humorously suggested the idea of personally leading a rescue mission to bring the astronauts back to Earth. He also criticized former President Joe Biden, attributing responsibility for the mission's delays. Originally planned as an eight-day trip, the mission has now stretched beyond nine months, according to the New York Post.
“Biden left them up there,” Trump remarked to reporters in the Oval Office. “We have two astronauts that are stuck in space. I have asked Elon, I said, ‘Do me a favor. Can you get them out?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ He is preparing to go up, I think in two weeks.”
Trump further commented that “Biden was embarrassed by what happened, and he said, ‘leave them up there.’ I would have said, ‘If you’re embarrassed, you got to get them out.’ Elon is right now preparing a ship to go up and get them.”
Speaking with Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy, Trump shared his message to the stranded astronauts: “We love you, and we’re coming up to get you, and you shouldn’t have been up there so long.”
He added, “The most incompetent president in our history has allowed that to happen to you, but this president won’t let it happen.”
Reflecting on their situation, he remarked, “They’ve been left up there—I hope they like each other, maybe they love each other, I don’t know. But they’ve been left up there. Think of it. And I see the woman with the wild hair, good, solid hair she’s got. There’s no kidding, there’s no games with her hair.”
The astronauts initially became stranded in June when a problem was detected with Boeing’s Starliner capsule, which returned to Earth without them, according to The Post.
In September, Musk’s SpaceX deployed a Crew Dragon capsule to retrieve them, successfully docking with the space station. However, NASA ultimately delayed their return.
By December, NASA announced that the astronauts would have to remain on the station until another SpaceX rescue vehicle could bring replacement crew members. The new arrival was not expected until late March, and after that, the astronauts would need to complete a handover period before heading back to Earth.
At one point, Trump jokingly asked officials and journalists in attendance, “Should I go on that journey just to be on the ship when we stop?”
“If that’s an option, yes,” Doocy responded, suggesting Trump would be the “first president in space.”
However, according to The Post, Trump did not seem entirely convinced by the proposal.
“When they come back, I’ll greet them, how about that?” he suggested.
On Thursday, Musk’s SpaceX program faced another challenge when a Starship rocket exploded after launch in Texas. The incident led to temporary flight groundings in Florida.
A live stream of the launch showed the rocket's engines shutting off approximately eight minutes into the flight, shortly after the booster successfully landed back at the tower.
“We just saw some engines go out. It looks like we are losing altitude control of the ship,” SpaceX communications manager Dan Huot stated during the webcast.
Before flight controllers lost contact, the spacecraft appeared to enter an uncontrolled spin.