‘Is the president allowed in space?’: Trump jokes while hosting Artemis II astronauts at White House
MUST SEE: President Trump Hosts Artemis II Crew in Oval Office - Entire Presser pic.twitter.com/gFjVpRCCFB
— Real America's Voice (RAV) (@RealAmVoice) April 29, 2026
WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump hosted the astronauts of the recently concluded historic Artemis II Lunar mission at the White House on Wednesday, April 29.
The NASA recently concluded a successful Artemis II crewed flyby mission, marking a key step toward future moon landings and long-term human presence.
Trump praises Artemis II astronauts during White House meeting
The four astronauts of Artemis II — commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen — attended a celebratory meeting and press conference at the Oval Office following the president’s invitation.
During the interaction, Trump praised the astronauts for their courage and highlighted the demands of spaceflight. He also suggested he could handle such a mission himself.
“We’re very proud of these people. They have unbelievable courage,” Trump said, adding that the role requires both mental sharpness and physical fitness.
“To get in there, you have to be very smart, have to do a lot of things physically good. So I would have had no trouble making it, I’m physically very, very good. Maybe a little bit of a problem. We’ll have to try it.”
He also asked whether a sitting president could take part in such missions, saying, “Is a president allowed to go up in one of these missions?”
Artemis II mission sets distance record during lunar flyby
The 10-day Artemis II mission concluded on Friday, April 10, with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego.
The crew, tasked with evaluating the performance of the Orion capsule in deep space, traveled 252,756 miles (406,771 km), surpassing the distance record set during the Apollo 13 mission in 1970.
During the mission, the astronauts circled the moon and captured images of its far side. The flight is part of NASA’s broader Artemis program aimed at returning humans to the lunar surface for the first time since the Apollo 17 expedition in 1972.
Trump congratulates Artemis II crew amid proposed NASA budget cuts
Earlier this month, Trump congratulated the Artemis II crew following their successful return, calling the mission “spectacular” in a Truth Social post.
“Congratulations to the Great and Very Talented Crew of Artemis II. The entire trip was spectacular, the landing was perfect and, as President of the United States, I could not be more proud,” he wrote.
Notably, the Trump administration has proposed significant reductions to NASA’s funding. Earlier in April, Trump announced plans to slash the agency’s budget by 23%, including a 46% cut to space science initiatives.
