President Donald Trump has called on SpaceX to bring two NASA astronauts, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, back from the International Space Station (ISS) “as soon as possible,” despite plans already being in place for their return in the coming months. Trump's remarks sparked confusion in the space industry, with questions raised about the timing and accuracy of his statement.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk echoed Trump's comments on January 28, posting on social media that the president had requested SpaceX to return the astronauts, whom he described as “virtually abandoned” by the Biden administration. “The @POTUS has asked @SpaceX to bring home the 2 astronauts stranded on the @Space_Station as soon as possible. We will do so,” Musk wrote on X, the social media platform he owns. He further criticized the Biden administration, adding, “Terrible that the Biden administration left them there so long.”
Trump later confirmed the directive in a post on his own platform, Truth Social, stating, “I have just asked Elon Musk and @SpaceX to ‘go get' the 2 brave astronauts who have been virtually abandoned in space by the Biden Administration… Hopefully, all will be safe. Good luck Elon!!!”
The comments raised questions within the space community, as there had been no official confirmation from NASA or the White House regarding the astronauts' return. A NASA spokesperson acknowledged the inquiry but had not issued a statement as of January 29.
The confusion stemmed from the fact that NASA already had plans to return Williams and Wilmore, who were launched to the ISS in June aboard Boeing's CST-100 Starliner spacecraft. The two astronauts had initially been scheduled for a brief stay at the station but had their mission extended to investigate thruster issues with the Starliner. NASA had arranged for them to return aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft on the Crew-9 mission, expected to return in early March, though this has since been delayed to April due to issues with the Crew-10 mission.
NASA has repeatedly stated that Williams and Wilmore were not “stranded” on the ISS and could return in the event of an emergency at any time. Both astronauts have publicly downplayed concerns about their extended stay. Williams stated, “Things that I can't control I'm not going to fret over,” while Wilmore added, “You sort of turn to and just take on the next activity of the day.”
NASA officials have also pushed back against labeling the Crew-9 mission as a “rescue,” emphasizing that it is a standard crew rotation with no political influence. “I really look at it as a crew rotation mission where we rotate the crews,” said Steve Stich, NASA's commercial crew program manager, in September.
While Trump and Musk criticized the Biden administration for their handling of the astronauts' extended stay, former NASA Administrator Bill Nelson had previously stated in August that the decision was based purely on technical considerations, with no political influence. “I can tell you unequivocally, from a personal standpoint, that politics has not played any part in this decision,” Nelson said at the time.
