Trump renominates Musk ally Jared Isaacman to lead NASA after earlier reversal
President Donald Trump has nominated Elon Musk ally Jared Isaacman to serve as NASA administrator again, after yanking his nomination for the role earlier in 2025. Trump originally tapped Isaacman,...
By Fox News · Fox News
President Donald Trump has nominated Elon Musk ally Jared Isaacman to serve as NASA administrator again, after yanking his nomination for the role earlier in 2025. Trump originally tapped Isaacman, a commercial astronaut and founder and CEO of payment processing company Shift4 Payments, for the post, but Trump rescinded his nomination in May amid tension between the president and Musk. "Jared’s passion for Space, astronaut experience, and dedication to pushing the boundaries of exploration, unlocking the mysteries of the universe, and advancing the new Space economy, make him ideally suited to lead NASA into a bold new Era," Trump said in a social media post Tuesday. Trump originally said when he revoked Isaacman's nomination for the position that the move came after "a thorough review of prior associations." NASA AT A CROSSROADS: TRUMP’S PLAN TO REFOCUS, EXPLORE AND BEAT CHINA Furthermore, Trump said he would select a "new Nominee who will be Mission aligned, and put America First in Space." Isaacman’s ties to Musk include being an investor in SpaceX, and leading two private spaceflight missions with SpaceX, including Inspiration4. The 2021 Inspiration4 mission marked the first time an all-civilian crew orbited Earth. Isaacman initially discussed his pulled nomination in an episode of the "All-In Podcast," hosted by four venture capitalists and covers business, technology and society, in an episode that dropped in June. At the time, Isaacman said he received a call from the White House May 30 notifying him his nomination wouldn’t advance because the White House had "decided to go in a different direction." Isaacman said he suspected his ties to Musk were part of the decision, and said the call came the same day Musk’s tenure heading up the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) finished. MUSK ALLY JARED ISAACMAN MAKES COMEBACK BID FOR NASA ADMINISTRATOR ROLE AFTER MAY WITHDRAWAL: REPORT "I don’t need to play dumb on this," Isaacman said in the podcast. "I don’…