The crew of Artemis II phoned home from above the moon on Monday night after their record-breaking day, to find Donald Trump musing about how he had saved the US space agency, Nasa, from closing down and telling the astronauts how much they deserved the honor of the president seeking their autographs.
The intermittently uncomfortable 12-minute Earth-to-space call, facilitated by the Nasa administrator and Trump acolyte, Jared Isaacman, featured a lengthy period of silence, several references by the president about his friendship with the retired Canadian ice hockey player Wayne Gretzky, and how “America is the hottest country in the world right now”.
But it was Trump’s questionable claim to have rescued Nasa during his first presidency that raised eyebrows and left the Artemis crew awkwardly tossing a microphone to each other in zero gravity just hours after setting a record for the farthest-traveled humans from Earth.
“You know, I had a decision to make in my first term, and the decision is: ‘What are we going to do at Nasa?’” Trump said.
“Are we going to have it be revived, or are we going to close it down? And I had very little hesitation. And it’s really great to have somebody like Jared involved, because it really makes it much easier for me. But it was not even a question in my own mind.
“We’ve spent what we had to do.”
While Trump has directed more resources to the space agency’s human spaceflight program, especially Artemis, he has consistently tried to slash its overall spending. After Trump’s second presidency began in early 2025, the White House proposed a 24% cut to the Nasa budget to $18.8bn, the lowest it would have been in a decade, prompting experts to denounce “extinction-level” reductions to the agency’s science programs.
Congress, in a rare show of bipartisanship, united to oppose the cuts, and in January it passed an almost fully funded budget of $24.4bn.
But on 3 April, two days after Artemis II blasted off for the moon on the first mission carrying humans beyond lower Earth orbit in more than 50 years, Trump unveiled his 2027 Nasa budget request with another huge cut – this time a 23% reduction.
Democrats have promised to fight the “morally bankrupt” move while Isaacman said in a statement: “I strongly support the president’s fiscal policies and mandate to drive efficiency.” Isaacman also urged Nasa workers “to leave the politics for the politicians and remain focused on the mission”.
During his call to Artemis on Monday, Trump praised the crew for their “incredible journey into the stars” and said they had “inspired the entire world” as the US worked towards building a permanent lunar base and eventually sending humans to Mars.
“America will be second to none in space and everything else that we’re doing, and we will continue to lead the whole thing,” he said.
Trump exalted Nasa’s Apollo program which previously landed astronauts on the moon – “but that was 50 years ago”, he said, “and at long last America is back. And America is back in many ways stronger than ever before – we’re the hottest country anywhere in the world.”
Trump had an exchange with the Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, who applauded what he saw as an “intentional decision” by the US “to lead by example and to allow other countries like Canada to share our gifts and help you achieve these mutually beneficial goals”.
It prompted Trump to reflect on conversations he said he had with Gretzky, a “very special person”; the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney; and “many other friends I have in Canada” about how proud they were of Hansen.
There followed more than a minute of awkward silence, ended by Isaacman jumping back in for a “comms check” – and Trump repeating his stories about Gretzky, Carney and the Canadian people.
“Yes Mr President, we heard that,” the Artemis II commander, Reid Wiseman, said.
The president then invited the four crew members to an Oval Office reception some time after a scheduled splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on Friday that will conclude their 10-day mission.
“I’ll ask Jared to bring you over, and I’ll ask for your autograph, because I don’t really ask for autographs much, but you deserve that,” Trump said.
“I’ve been pretty busy, also, as you know, but I will absolutely find the time, and we’ll get together, and I’m going to be giving you a big salute on behalf of the American people and beyond that.”
The Artemis II pilot Victor Glover replied: “When you want us, we will be there,” and thanked the president for his “really special” call.
“We just want to say thank you to all of you for this,” Glover continued.
“It is the thrill and honor of a lifetime to have been on this journey. Today was amazing, but this three-year journey has been amazing, and it was made possible by the American people and the Canadian people.”
