Many breathed a sigh of relief when two NASA astronauts finally came back to Earth after having been stranded in space for about nine months.
With the help of the SpaceX Crew, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams managed to make it back to Earth earlier this week.
During a Friday press conference, a reporter noted that the astronauts did not receive any overtime pay while they were lost in space. “They got $5 a day per diem for 286 days,” said Fox News’ Peter Doocy. “That is $1,430 in extra pay. Is there anything the administration can do to … make them whole?
Trump responded, “Well, nobody’s ever mentioned this to me. If I have to, I’ll pay it out of my own pocket. I’ll take care of that.”
The president further thanked SpaceX founder Elon Musk, noting that without his involvement the astronauts could have been “up there a long time.”
Trump referenced the string of attacks on Tesla vehicles carried out by leftist activists. “These people are going to be caught .. and they’re going to be prosecuted,” the president said, also noting that they could “get 20 years in jail.”
🚨 JUST IN: Trump announces he’s willing to pay overtime out of his OWN POCKET for the astronauts who were stranded in Space for 10 months
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) March 21, 2025
What a guy.
The federal government had only been paying them $5 PER DAY for the 10 months they were up there pic.twitter.com/MnUc7GSDZJ
Williams and Wilmore’s return was months in the making. Their initial trip was only supposed to last for two weeks. But technical issues kept them stranded in space for far longer.
Williams and Wilmore returned home aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, which had been docked at the International Space Station since September 2024. The capsule, which was initially used to transport NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian astronaut Aleksandr Gorbunov to the ISS, had two vacant seats reserved for Williams and Wilmore. The four astronauts couldn’t return to Earth in the same capsule until another crew of four astronauts arrived to take their place.
What a sight! The parachutes on @SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft have deployed; #Crew9 will shortly splash down off the coast of Florida near Tallahassee. pic.twitter.com/UcQBVR7q03
— NASA (@NASA) March 18, 2025
Musk later indicated that he had approached the Biden administration with an offer to assist in the rescue efforts, but was rebuffed for “political reasons.”
You are fully retarded.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 20, 2025
SpaceX could have brought them back several months ago.
I OFFERED THIS DIRECTLY to the Biden administration and they refused.
Return WAS pushed back for political reasons.
Idiot.
If what Musk is saying is true, then it means the Biden administration was willing to endanger the lives of the two astronauts simply because he could not stand the optics of working with the Tesla Man What Is Bad™, which is yet another reason why the nation is better off without the former president.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member