United States President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post that he "just asked Elon Musk and SpaceX" to retrieve the two NASA astronauts, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, currently on the International Space Station (ISS).
Trump said that Williams and Wilmore, who launched to the ISS aboard Boeing's Starliner in June 2024, were "virtually abandoned in space by the Biden Administration." He stressed that Musk will "soon be on his way" and wished him luck. "Hopefully, all will be safe," he added.
SpaceX had already been tasked with the retrieval mission by NASA back in August 2024. The agency then pushed the mission to April 2025 in a December announcement.