U-turn: Donald Trump nominates Jared Isaacman for the second time as NASA chief
In the spring, Jared Isaacman was supposed to become head of NASA, then Donald Trump dropped him at the last moment. Now he is changing his mind again.
Jared Isaacman with Donald Trump
(Image: Jared Isaacman)
In an unusual turn of events, Donald Trump has once again changed his plans for the US space agency NASA and nominated businessman Jared Isaacman for the top position for the second time. On his microblogging service Truth Social, he wrote that Isaacman's "passion for space, his experience as an astronaut, and his commitment to research" make him the "ideal candidate to lead NASA into a new, bold era." Trump praised the acting head of NASA, Sean Duffy, for doing an excellent job. However, the post fails to mention that Trump had already nominated Isaacman as NASA chief earlier this year, only to drop the confidant of Elon Musk at the last moment.
Nominated, dropped, re-nominated
Originally, Trump had declared his intention to make Isaacman head of NASA shortly after his election victory a year ago. The businessman amassed his fortune as the founder and CEO of a payment service provider, now called Shift4 Payments. However, he became known worldwide as a space tourist, who has flown into space twice with SpaceX spacecraft. He paid for the flights himself and, in the process, built a relationship of trust with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. Musk apparently ensured that Trump then nominated him. When the relationship between Trump and Musk cooled in the spring, the nomination was withdrawn – likely because Isaacman had donated money to the Democratic Party in the past.
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The renewed nomination now comes after Musk and Trump have publicly reconciled. Behind the scenes, there has apparently been a lot of continued support for Isaacman. The possibility of a renewed nomination became apparent in October. The acting NASA chief publicly put pressure on SpaceX, the space company of Elon Musk, because its contribution to humanity's return to the moon is no longer on schedule. However, this apparently did not impress Trump. It is unclear exactly when Isaacman is officially to be confirmed. The businessman thanked Trump, and Elon Musk shared the post on the microblogging service X.
(mho)
