Billionaire and Musk confidant
Trump nominates Isaacman as new NASA chief
So now: US President Donald Trump wants to make private astronaut and confidant of Elon Musk, Jared Isaacman, head of the US space agency NASA. At the end of May it sounded different.
US President Donald Trump now wants to make Jared Isaacman, a confidant of tech billionaire Elon Musk, head of the US space agency NASA. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that he nominated the 42-year-old for the position.
It remained unclear when Isaacman would be officially confirmed and will replace the current interim boss, Transport Minister Sean Duffy.
Isaacman commanded first all-civilian space crew
As early as December 2024, Trump, as president-elect, proposed the billionaire and space tourist Isaacman as NASA boss on Musk’s recommendation. In a dispute with the Tesla boss, Trump withdrew the nomination at the end of May – shortly before the US Senate was to vote on it, as the New York Times writes. Instead, Duffy has been heading NASA on an interim basis since July.
Isaacman is a billionaire and founder of the payment service Shift4 Payments and the military services aviation company Draken International. He maintains close contacts with tech billionaire Musk. Isaacman flew into space twice with his space company SpaceX. In 2021, he commanded the first all-civilian space crew aboard a SpaceX capsule.
However, a strategic conflict emerged during his first confirmation process in the Senate. So Isaacman had to balance the Trump administration’s desire to focus on Mars against NASA’s multibillion-dollar strategy. This envisages returning to the moon first in a geopolitical race with China. According to media reports, Trump also found out that Isaacman had made donations to Democratic representatives in the past.
Trump and Musk are talking to each other again
“Jared’s passion for space travel and his commitment to pushing the boundaries of exploration, unlocking the mysteries of the universe and advancing the new space economy make him an ideal candidate to lead NASA into a bold new era,” Trump wrote in his post about Isaacman’s nomination.
Isaacman, for his part, expressed his gratitude in a post on Platform
It is not known exactly what motivated Trump to make the about-face. Recently, the relationship between him and Musk is said to have relaxed somewhat. In September they spoke at the memorial service for the slain right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. Since then, he has had a little contact with Musk now and then, but “nothing major,” Trump told reporters during his trip to Asia at the end of October.
