Trump speaks with NASA’s Artemis II astronauts after historic moon flyby

Trump talks with NASA Artemis II astronauts after historic flyby of the moon

By Jackie Flynn Mogensen & Lee Billings edited by Claire Cameron

Monday, shortly after Artemis II The crew conducted hours of observations of the far side of the Moon, with President Donald Trump calling to congratulate the astronauts on their feat.

“Hello to Artemis II. Today you made history and did it all [of] America is really proud, incredibly proud,” Trump, alongside NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, told the crew in a call transmitted to their Orion spacecraft. “Humans have really never seen anything like what you do in a manned spacecraft. It’s really special.”

THE Artemis II The crew, which includes NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, set a record Monday for the longest distance a human being has traveled from Earth, surpassing that of Apollo 13 in 1970. At the farthest point, they were 252,756 miles (406,771 kilometers) from Earth, according to NASA. The crew also observed a solar eclipse, as the moon passed in front of the sun.

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Yet as President Trump exchanged pleasantries with the Artemis II astronauts, the White House’s federal budget proposal for fiscal year 2027 is making its way to Capitol Hill. He proposes cutting NASA’s overall funding by nearly a quarter and cutting NASA’s science budget by almost half. In inflation-adjusted dollars, if signed into law, the White House spending plan for NASA would be the smallest budget the space agency has seen since 1961. (The White House’s previous budget proposal for fiscal 2026 called for similar cuts for the space agency, but was defeated by rare bipartisan pushback from Congress.)

Supporters of space exploration have condemned the budget cuts. Casey Dreier, head of space policy at the nonprofit Planetary Society, said Nature news that the White House’s latest budget proposal was “an extinction-level event for science” at the space agency. “This would weaken and prevent NASA from being the world leader in space exploration.”

In a previous statement, Isaacman said he “strongly supports[s]”The President’s budget policies. “The requested funding levels are sufficient for NASA to meet the nation’s high expectations and meet all of its mission priorities.” The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump appeared to reference his support for the agency’s work in his Monday call, highlighting his first-term decision to support space exploration and create the U.S. Space Force. “You know, I had a decision to make in my first term, and the decision is, ‘What are we going to do at NASA?’ “, the president told the crew.

The conversation appeared to hit a hiccup midway, with neither the astronauts nor Trump speaking for a prolonged silence. After a full minute, the crew asked for “a quick communications check,” but Trump responded that he was still on the line.

“I look forward to seeing you in the Oval Office,” Trump said on the call. “I’m going to ask you for your autograph, because I don’t really ask for autographs, but you deserve it.”

Editor’s Note (04/06/26): This is a developing story and will be updated.

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