Posted on Wednesday, March 19, 2025
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by Alan Jamison
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Elon Musk’s SpaceX rescued two NASA astronauts on Tuesday who had been stranded at the International Space Station (ISS) for nine months, ending another controversy that crept up during the Biden administration.
The two astronauts rocketed into space last June for a mission that was only supposed to last eight days. But the astronauts, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were left stranded after their Boeing Starliner spacecraft was forced to return to Earth unmanned due to helium leaks. SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft finally rescued the astronauts following mounting public outcry.
In a February interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Musk alleged that former President Joe Biden left the astronauts stranded in space for “political reasons” and revealed that Trump requested SpaceX’s assistance to bring them back. Trump explained that Musk “didn’t have the go-ahead with Biden.”
“We offered to bring them back early,” Musk said in a later interview on Joe Rogan’s podcast. “This offer was rejected by the Biden administration.”
Musk added that “there is no way they’re going to make anyone who supported Trump look good.” He explained that the Biden administration pushed the date for SpaceX’s rescue mission past Trump’s inauguration day for this reason. NASA relied on SpaceX to bring the astronauts back and did not have another alternative, according to Musk.
Trump fulfilled his promise to bring the astronauts back with a splashdown Tuesday evening in the Gulf of America. The mission was a success with no issues. NASA astronaut Nick Hague and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov were also in the spacecraft on the trip back.
Trump celebrated the successful landing by sharing a video of the splashdown on Truth Social.
“PROMISE MADE, PROMISE KEPT: President Trump pledged to rescue the astronauts stranded in space for nine months,” the official White House account posted on X. “Today, they safely splashed down in the Gulf of America, thanks to @ElonMusk, @SpaceX, and @NASA!”
Biden received widespread criticism for his handling of the situation after the swift action from Trump.
“For seven months, Joe Biden left two American astronauts stranded in space rather than hand Elon Musk a win by asking SpaceX to bring them home,” Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk posted on X. “It took President Trump less than two months to fix the problem. This is what happens when you put America first, both on Earth and in space.”
Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris have not commented on SpaceX’s successful mission. “The Biden administration reportedly didn’t want to bring the astronauts back by using SpaceX,” media personality Dave Rubin posted online. “So they just left them stranded in space for 9 months. Elon is now bringing them home. Kamala probably suggested they just walk back.”
The corporate media was already attempting to discredit Trump’s accomplishment shortly after the successful mission, with The Washington Post declaring the president “had little to do” with the rescue. But regardless of attempts to downplay the achievements, the astronauts said that they have “the utmost respect for Mr. Musk and obviously respect and admiration for our president of the United States, Donald Trump. We appreciate them, we appreciate all that they do for us.”
Alan Jamison is the pen name of a political writer with extensive experience writing for several notable politicians and news outlets.
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