US President Donald Trump on Thursday weighed in on the prolonged stay of Nasa astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore aboard the International Space Station (ISS), blaming President Joe Biden for their extended mission and claiming he has asked Elon Musk to facilitate their return.
Trump, speaking from the Oval Office, said, “We have two astronauts that are stuck in space. I have asked Elon (Musk), I said, ‘Do me a favour. Can you get them out?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ He is preparing to go up, I think in two weeks.”
He went on to remark about Williams’ appearance, saying, “And I see the woman with the wild hair, good, solid head of hair she’s got. There’s no kidding, there’s no games with her hair.”
The two astronauts, who embarked on what was initially an eight-day mission in June 2024, have remained aboard the ISS for nine months due to technical failures in Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, including helium leaks and thruster malfunctions.
Blaming Biden for the delay, Trump asserted, “Biden left them up there… He allowed that to happen to you, but this president won’t let it happen. We’re going to get them out. We’re coming up to get you.” He also suggested the situation was dangerous, saying, “It can have some failures up there. That would be very bad. You got to get them out.”
Musk, in a post on X, said, “The astronauts were only supposed to be up there for 8 days and now have been there for 8 months. SpaceX could have sent up another Dragon and brought them home 6 months ago, but the Biden White House (not Nasa) refused to allow it. President Trump asked to bring them back as soon as possible and we are doing so.”
Williams, 59, has spent a record-breaking 62 hours and 6 minutes on spacewalks, the longest by any woman. In 2012, she also became the first person to complete a triathlon in space.
With Musk preparing a spacecraft for the astronauts’ return, it remains to be seen when the evacuation will take place.