US PRESIDENT Donald Trump spoke about NASA astronaut Sunita Williams' hair while addressing the situation of two astronauts stranded aboard the International Space Station (ISS). He told reporters in the Oval Office that “we’re coming up to get you” while criticising president Joe Biden over their extended stay in space.
Trump, 78, spoke about the possibility of launching a rescue mission for astronauts Butch Wilmore and Williams, who have been in space for nine months instead of the planned eight-day mission. He blamed Biden for their prolonged stay.
“Biden left them up there,” Trump said. “We have two astronauts that are stuck in space. I have asked Elon (Musk), I said, ‘Do me a favour. Can you get them out?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ He is preparing to go up, I think in two weeks.”
Trump added that Musk is “right now preparing a ship to go up” and bring them back.
Referring to Williams, Trump commented on her hair, saying, "And I see the woman with the wild hair, good, solid head of hair she's got. There's no kidding, there's no games with her hair.”
When asked about his message to the astronauts, he said, “We love you, and we're coming up to get you. And you shouldn't have been up there so long.” He blamed Biden for the delay, calling him the “most incompetent president in our history.”
“We’re going to get them out. We’re coming up to get you,” Trump said, looking up as if addressing the astronauts directly.
"They’ve been left up there. I hope they like each other, but they’ve been... maybe they'll love each other, I don't know. But they’ve been left up there. Think of it. There’s a danger up there too. It can have some failures up there. That would be very bad. You got to get them out,” he said.
Trump claimed he had given Musk permission to carry out the mission. “So I've authorised Elon. A week ago, I said, we have two people up there that Biden and Kamala (Harris) left up there, and he knows it very well. I said, ‘Are you equipped to get them?’ He said, ‘Yeah.’ He's got a starship, and they're preparing it right now, and so Elon is going to go up and get them.”
Joking about the mission, Trump said, “Should I go on that journey just to be on the ship?” as reporters laughed.
Musk later posted on X, saying the astronauts were supposed to stay in space for eight days but have now been there for eight months.
“SpaceX could have sent up another Dragon and brought them home 6 months ago, but the Biden White House (not NASA) refused to allow it. President Trump asked to bring them back as soon as possible and we are doing so,” Musk wrote.
Williams, 59, and Wilmore launched aboard Boeing’s Starliner in June 2024 for an eight-day mission, but technical issues, including helium leaks and thruster malfunctions, prevented their return.
In January, Williams set a record for total spacewalking time by a woman, logging 62 hours and 6 minutes. In 2012, she became the first person to complete a triathlon in space by simulating swimming, cycling, and running aboard the ISS.
(With inputs from PTI)
