On Wednesday, President Donald Trump welcomed to the Oval Office the crew of the Artemis II: Commander Reid Wiseman, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, Pilot Victor Glover, and Canadian Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, along with NASA administrator Jared Isaacman.
AMERICAN HEROES! 🇺🇸🚀
President Trump welcomes the incredible Artemis II astronauts to the Oval Office after their historic trip around the Moon, an epic moment for our nation! pic.twitter.com/cHLXFJ8KuR
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 29, 2026
Trump introduced them by saying:
We have some people that have captivated the attention of the whole world. Not just our country, the whole world. They’re very brave, and that was a lot of rocket under them. I never saw anything like that, we were talking about it. I don’t know how they do it. I wouldn’t want to do it.
But it takes people like this to make our country great, and again, I’ve never seen anything — everybody I knew, they went to see the launch, and they especially wanted to see a successful landing. And Jared, I want to congratulate you for what you’ve done at NASA, I made a great choice.
Read More: ‘Joy Train’: Artemis Crew Gives First Remarks on Earth After Successful Splashdown
The Artemis II Heroes Are Back Home, but the Mission Goes On. What’s Next?
Trump continued:
We’re very proud of these people, they have unbelievable courage, unbelievable. A lot of other things too, by the way. To get in there, you have to be very smart, you have to do a lot of things physically good. So, I would have had no trouble making it in, I’m physically very, very good. Maybe a little bit of a problem, we’ll have to try it sometime.
Trump teased NASA administrator Isaacman about whether the president would be allowed to go on one of the missions.
“We can get to work on that,” Isaacman replied.
Trump congratulated the crew and acknowledged their families before opening up to questions from the press.
WATCH:
.@POTUS welcomes the astronauts of Artemis II to the Oval Office: “We have some people that have captivated the attention of the whole world… it takes people like this to make our country great.” 🚀🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/v7TG4mrLbc
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 29, 2026
One reporter asked the president whether man walking on the moon again would happen during his second term.
Trump responded:
We have a shot at it. I mean, we don’t like to say definitely, because then they’ll say, we failed, we failed. We can say we’re ahead of schedule. So, we have a good shot, we’ve authorized it. And I think with this team, and Jared has done an amazing job at NASA. I think we have a good shot, yep, we’ll see.
Trump threw it to Isaacman, who said:
Yes, Mr. President. We have an achievable plan now back to the moon. We’re back in the business of launching moon rockets with frequency. So, we just sent Artemis II around the moon, we’re going to launch Artemis III in 2027, we’ll protect up to two opportunities in 2028 to return astronauts to the surface of the moon.
Trump roped it back, and mentioned Space Force as an agency which will play an important role in more space exploration.
Another reporter asked President Trump about the release of the formerly classified information about the existence of UFOs.
WATCH:
.@POTUS: It’s been on the minds of people for a long time. They want to find out about the UFOs, and we’re going to be releasing a lot of things that we have, and I think some of it’s going to be very interesting to people. pic.twitter.com/dRSvqSww09
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 29, 2026
The last reporter questioned whether NASA’s headquarters would be moved out of D.C. Trump deferred to Administrator Isaacman for his response.
TRUMP: The best man to tell you that is the man sitting right here. Did you hear that question, with those beautiful ears of yours? He’s got great hearing, you know. He’s got super hearing.
can’t believe that just happened: Trump got a NASA question and deferred to NASA administrator Jared Isaacman, saying “the best man to tell you that is the man sitting right over here. You heard that question with those beautiful ears of yours … He’s got super hearing” pic.twitter.com/Gw5Eakwhpq
— John Hudson (@John_Hudson) April 29, 2026
Isaacman took it on the chin and responded:
I think the answer to that is that we have 10 amazing centers around the country that all kind of bubble up to contribute to the mission we’re able to undertake, like Artemis II. I think in terms of the headquarters, we have a lot of people very interested in our mission, so being here in D.C. gives us the opportunity to interact with all of our stakeholders, make sure we make the right decisions for our nation.
Save for those three questions, the rest of the assembled press did not bother to direct questions to the Oval Office guests of honor or about the future Artemis missions. They chose to fix their questions on Operation Epic Fury, the war in Ukraine, the White House ballroom, the state visit of King Charles III and Queen Camilla of the United Kingdom, the indictment of former FBI director James Comey, and other news which could be more easily spun to create a narrative against the administration.
Astronauts who made an historic trip to the dark side of the moon would not serve that interest.
The White House Press office noticed this, and decided to name and shame those press folks for this oversight.
.@POTUS just hosted the Artemis II crew in the Oval Office — and not a single “reporter” in the room bothered to ask about them or their remarkable journey.
Totally and completely disrespectful.@kaitlancollins & @KristenhCNN (Fake News CNN)@MicaSoellnerDC (Bloomberg Gov)…
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 29, 2026
.@POTUS just hosted the Artemis II crew in the Oval Office — and not a single “reporter” in the room bothered to ask about them or their remarkable journey.
Totally and completely disrespectful.
@kaitlancollins &
@KristenhCNN (Fake News CNN)
@MicaSoellnerDC (Bloomberg Gov)
@joeygarrison (USA Today)
@hayapanjw (AP)
@HaleyBullNews (Scripps)
@TrevorNews (Reuters)
@jendlouhyhc (Bloomberg)
@CorinaCappTV (Spectrum)
@TheElizMitchell (The Daily Signal)
@rachaelmbade
The Artemis II mission and its findings will continue to unfold as NASA prepares to launch the Artemis III mission in 2027. So, consider today another contribution toward moving the nation into a more ebullient mood.
All part of the rising tide toward the America 250 celebrations.
