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Trump Claims He Asked Elon Musk for ‘a Favor’ to Retrieve Astronauts from ISS
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump claimed on Thursday that he personally “asked a favor” of Elon Musk to facilitate the return of astronauts from the International Space Station (ISS), while continuing to take partisan swipes at the Biden administration.
The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, which has been docked at the ISS since September, has always been designated for the return of astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore. However, Trump suggested during Oval Office remarks that he had recently given Musk the go-ahead for the mission.
“I authorized Elon a week ago to go get them,” Trump said.
He further claimed that President Joe Biden was “embarrassed by what happened and said, ‘Leave them up there.’”
NASA and Astronauts Dispute ‘Stranded’ Narrative
Williams and Wilmore, both veteran astronauts on their third missions to space, have repeatedly emphasized that they do not feel abandoned. In a February 13 interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Wilmore directly addressed Trump’s previous remarks.
“We don’t feel abandoned, we don’t feel stuck, we don’t feel stranded,” Wilmore told Cooper.
Despite NASA and the astronauts’ assurances, Trump and Musk’s political rhetoric has fueled speculation about their status.
The Starliner Delay and SpaceX’s Role
Williams and Wilmore originally launched in June aboard Boeing’s Starliner as part of a test flight for the new spacecraft, which was expected to become another vehicle for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. However, technical issues forced NASA to send Starliner back to Earth in early September—without its crew.
To accommodate their safe return, NASA assigned them seats on a SpaceX Dragon capsule that has been docked at the ISS since late September. That spacecraft, which arrived with Crew-9, was initially designed to carry four astronauts but flew with only two, leaving room for Williams and Wilmore on the return trip.
NASA has maintained that this was the plan all along, with the astronauts becoming part of the Crew-9 mission while Starliner undergoes further testing.
Upcoming Crew-10 Mission and Return Timeline
NASA’s next rotation mission, Crew-10, is scheduled to launch as early as March 12 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Once Crew-10 arrives at the ISS, Crew-9, including Williams and Wilmore, will begin preparations for their return to Earth aboard the SpaceX Dragon.
“We’re going to hand the baton to Crew-10 and return to Earth at the end of a successful long-duration mission,” astronaut Nick Hague said during a news conference from orbit.
After a few days of handover activities, the Crew-9 team, including Williams and Wilmore, will undock and make their journey back to Earth as planned.
This version keeps all the key details while improving the structure and readability. Let me know if you’d like any further refinements!