Trump Cancels Plan to Appoint Elon Musk's Friend as NASA Chief

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - United States President Donald Trump has officially withdrawn Jared Isaacman's nomination as Head of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, aka NASA. This decision was announced on Saturday, May 31, 2025 local time and surprised many in the space industry, especially since the nomination of billionaire business partner Elon Musk in the Polaris Dawn program was considered smooth and almost certain to pass the Senate vote next week.

White House spokeswoman Liz Huston said that the government is now looking for a new figure to lead the space agency. The NASA administrator, she emphasized, will help lead humanity into space and carry out President Trump's bold mission to plant the American flag on Mars.

"It is critical that the next NASA leader is fully aligned with President Trump's America First agenda, and his replacement will be announced directly by President Trump in the near future," she said in a statement to SpaceNews.

Trump also announced the withdrawal of Jared Isaacman's nomination via a post on social media that evening. He said the decision was made after a thorough review of previous relationships. "I will soon announce a new nominee who will be aligned with the mission and put America first in space," Trump wrote.

Isaacman responded via a personal statement on social media, thanking Trump, the Senate, and everyone who supported him during the nomination process. "The President, NASA, and the American people deserve the best—an Administrator who is ready to reform, rebuild, and mobilize the best minds to produce the great stories NASA was founded on," he wrote.

He also added, "I have not yet completed my last mission—whatever that may be—but I remain very optimistic that the future of humanity as space explorers is very bright."

Until this decision was announced, Isaacman was considered to face no significant obstacles. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has filed a procedure that paves the way for a vote to begin June 3. Isaacman's nomination also has cross-party support on the Senate Commerce Committee and is being pushed by 28 former NASA astronauts and former administrator Jim Bridenstine.

It is not yet clear why Trump changed his mind. Some sources suspect this is related to the strained relationship between President Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who was previously said to support Isaacman. Other allegations emerged after The New York Times reported that Isaacman was known to have donated to political opponents in recent years.

The withdrawal of the nomination also comes a day after NASA released details of its proposed fiscal year 2026 budget, which includes a 25 percent budget cut, including significant cuts to space science and technology. Isaacman himself said that he was not involved in NASA's budget discussions. However, he considered that if science funding was cut by almost half, it would not be the ideal or best outcome.

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