Trump reverses course to renominate billionaire Musk ally to lead Nasa

Donald Trump has renewed his nomination for the billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman to become Nasa administrator.

“This evening, I am pleased to nominate Jared Isaacman, an accomplished business leader, philanthropist, pilot, and astronaut, as Administrator of NASA. 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. Congratulations to Jared, his wife Monica, and their children, Mila and Liv,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday.

The move comes several months after Trump withdrew an initial nomination of Isaacman – an ally of the billionaire Elon Musk – for the same role back in May. Just one week before Isaacman’s confirmation, Trump posted: “After a thorough review of prior associations, I am hereby withdrawing the nomination of Jared Isaacman to head Nasa. I will soon announce a new Nominee who will be mission aligned, and put America first in space.”

Isaacman’s initial nomination removal was just days after Musk’s official departure from the White House, the SpaceX CEO’s role as a “special government employee” leading the so-called department of government efficiency (Doge) having created turbulence for the administration and frustrated some of Trump’s aides.

The president later appointed Sean Duffy, the secretary of transportation, to be acting Nasa administrator instead, pending the choice of a permanent space agency chief. In his renewal post, Trump addressed Duffy’s service briefly, writing: “Sean Duffy has done an incredible job as Interim Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).”

Isaacman, the former CEO of the payment processor company Shift4, has broad space industry support but has drawn concerns from lawmakers over his ties to Musk and SpaceX, where he spent hundreds of millions of dollars as an early private spaceflight customer.

He donated to Democrats in prior elections. In his confirmation hearing in April, he sought to balance Nasa’s existing moon-aligned space exploration strategy with pressure to shift the agency’s focus on Mars, saying the US can plan for travel to both destinations.

As the soon-to-be leader of Nasa’s 18,000 employees, Isaacman faces a daunting task of implementing that decision to prioritize Mars, given that Nasa has spent years and billions of dollars trying to return its astronauts to the moon.