Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore
US President Donald Trump said Elon Musk is readying a starship to bring back Nasa astronauts Sunita Williams and astronauts Butch Wilmore, who have been stranded on the International Space Station for the past nine months.
Asked about his message for the two astronauts, Trump said: “We love you, and we're coming up to get you. And you shouldn't have been up there so long.”
Describing Joe Biden as the “most incompetent President in our history,” he said he "allowed that to happen to you, but this President won't let it happen. we’re going to get them out.”
He seemed to look up towards the ceiling as he added: “We’re coming up to get you.”
Trump on two astronauts stuck in space: "Maybe they'll 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 head of hair she's got. There's no kidding. There's no games with her hair." pic.twitter.com/6a2JHVXFNO
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 6, 2025
He said: “I’ve authorised Elon, I said can you get ‘em out? ‘Cause you know they’ve been left up there!
“I hope they like each other,” Trump said to laughter from the assembled. “Maybe they’ll 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,” he said about Sunita Williams. “Good solid head of hair she's got. There's no kidding. There's no games with her hair.”
“And you know there's a danger up there too. It can have some failures up there. That would be very bad. You got to get them out. So I’ve authorised Elon, a week ago, and I said, you know, we have two people up there that Biden and Kamala [Harris] left up there. And he knows it very well. I said, are you equipped to get ‘em? He said yeah, he’s got a starship. And they’re preparing it right now.”
Wilmore and Williams were supposed to spend just over a week aboard the ISS. They have been stranded there for nearly eight months.
Their mission, launched in June 2024, was meant to be a breakthrough for Boeing’s Starliner capsule. But the spacecraft suffered serious malfunctions on its way to the ISS. Nasa deemed it too dangerous for a return trip, sending it back to Earth empty.
“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. “Terrible that the Biden administration left them there so long,” Musk added.
Wilmore addressed the claim recently in a media conference from space.
“I can only say that Mr. Musk, what he says, is absolutely factual … I believe him,” Wilmore said. But he also admitted that he and Williams had no firsthand knowledge of the discussions.
“We have no information on that, though, whatsoever. What was offered, what was not offered, who it was offered to, how that process went. That’s information that we simply don’t have,” Wilmore said.
After Wilmore’s statement, Musk reiterated that the White House — not Nasa — had blocked SpaceX from retrieving the astronauts months ago.
“The astronauts were only supposed to be up there for 8 days and now have been there for 8 months,” Musk wrote on X on Friday morning (IST).
“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," Musk added.
Sunita Williams, however, pushed back against Musk’s suggestion that the ISS should be retired ahead of schedule. Musk in February had called for the deorbiting of the ISS within two years.
“This place is ticking. It's just really amazing, so I would say we're actually in our prime right now,” Williams said. “I would think that right now is probably not the right time to say quit, call it quits.”