The Artemis II crew just had a call with President Donald Trump from above the moon, and let’s just say it delivered a truly meme-worthy moment for the ages. After setting a record for the farthest-traveled humans from Earth, the astronauts found themselves in an intermittently uncomfortable 12-minute Earth-to-space call on Monday night, which notably included a whole minute of awkward silence after Trump went on about his Canadian connections.
The crew consisted of Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen. Wiseman, Glover, and Koch are all NASA astronauts, while Jeremy Hansen is from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). The four astronauts, who had been working incredibly hard for days, responded to Trump’s comments with polite smiles and silence.
According to The Guardian, the president used the call to muse about how he supposedly saved NASA from closing down during his first presidency. He also told the astronauts how much they deserved the honor of him seeking their autographs, which is quite the statement. Jared Isaacman, NASA administrator and known supporter of Trump, facilitated the exchange.
All this happened just hours after their record-setting journey
During the call, Trump made several references to his friendship with retired Canadian ice hockey player Wayne Gretzky, plugged his “baby” Space Force and also declared that “America is the hottest country in the world right now.” However, it was his assertion about rescuing NASA that really raised some eyebrows and left the Artemis crew in a visibly awkward position, passing a microphone to each other in zero gravity.
“You know, I had a decision to make in my first term, and the decision is: ‘What are we going to do at NASA?’” he stated. “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 NASA’s human spaceflight program the reality is he has consistently tried to slash the agency’s overall spending. After his second presidency began in 2025, the White House actually proposed a pretty significant 24% cut to the NASA budget, bringing it down to $18.8 billion.
That would have been the lowest it had been in a decade, prompting experts to warn of what they called “extinction-level” reductions to crucial science programs. Thankfully, Congress, in a pretty rare display of bipartisanship, united to oppose those cuts. They eventually passed an almost fully funded budget of $24.4 billion in January.
However, the attempts didn’t stop there. On April 3, just two days after Artemis II blasted off for the moon on the first mission carrying humans beyond lower Earth orbit in over 50 years, Trump unveiled his 2027 NASA budget request. This new proposal included another huge cut, this time a 23% reduction.
Democrats have already promised to fight this “morally bankrupt” move. On the other hand, Isaacman released a statement saying, “I strongly support the president’s fiscal policies and mandate to drive efficiency.” He also urged NASA workers “to leave the politics for the politicians and remain focused on the mission.”
During the call with the Artemis II crew, Trump also praised them for their “incredible journey into the stars,” saying they had “inspired the entire world” as the US worked towards building a permanent lunar base and eventually sending humans to Mars. He also declared, “America will be second to none in space and everything else that we’re doing, and we will continue to lead the whole thing.”
Trump also exalted the Apollo program, which previously landed astronauts on the moon, but noted, “that was 50 years ago.” He added, “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.”
Then came the moment everyone is talking about
Hansen applauded what he called an “intentional decision” by the US to lead by example and allow other countries to share its gifts and help in achieving mutually beneficial goals. This prompted Trump to reflect on conversations he said he had with Gretzky, whom he called a “very special person,” as well as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, and “many other friends I have in Canada” about how proud they were of Hansen.
This is where things got really quiet. There was more than a minute of awkward silence. A clip shows the astronauts floating in silence for that minute until Wiseman jumped in with, “Administrator Isaacman, just get a quick comm check, make sure you guys are still on the line and we didn’t have a handover.”
Trump then replied, “I am, yes,” leading to laughter from the control room. He then repeated his stories about Gretzky, Carney, and the Canadian people, to which Wiseman politely responded, “Yes, Mr. President, we heard that.” Many are calling this awkward silent minute the moment the crew visibly grew tired of the conversation.
Trump then invited the crew to the Oval Office after their scheduled splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on Friday. “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,” he said. “I’ve been pretty busy, also, as you know, but I will absolutely find the time, and we’ll get together…” Glover replied, “When you want us, we will be there,” and thanked the president for his “really special” call.
(featured image: Josh Valcarcel)
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