Trump re-nominates Elon Musk’s billionaire ally for NASA leadership role

In a surprising move, US President Donald Trump has re-nominated billionaire entrepreneur and SpaceX astronaut Jared Isaacman to head NASA, months after abruptly withdrawing his first nomination.

Isaacman, a longtime ally of Elon Musk and a commercial astronaut who has flown twice aboard SpaceX missions, was reportedly dropped from consideration earlier this year following revelations about his past donations to Democratic candidates.

Trump made the announcement on his social platform Truth Social, calling Isaacman “an accomplished business leader, philanthropist, pilot, and astronaut” whose passion for space and innovation “makes him the perfect person to lead NASA into a bold new era.”

Interestingly, the statement omitted any mention of Trump’s earlier decision to withdraw his nomination.

However, Isaacman has thanked Trump in a post on X (formerly Twitter), saying it would be “an honour to serve my country under your leadership.”

“The support from the space-loving community has been overwhelming. I’ll do everything I can to live up to those expectations, he added.

This re-nomination follows a notable heated exchange between Musk and US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, whom Musk recently called a “dummy” for allegedly trying to “kill NASA.”

For those unversed, Isaacman has donated over $1 million to pro-Trump groups in recent weeks and met the US president multiple times to discuss NASA’s future.