The private astronaut had been nominated for the role earlier this year, but the White House yanked that nomination as cracks formed in President Donald Trump\u2019s relationship with Musk.<\/p>\n
“Secretary Duffy<\/a> and Jared Isaacman had an excellent meeting,” NASA press secretary Bethany Stephens first told Reuters in a statement this week.<\/p>\n She added in a statement to Fox News Digital: “At President Trump’s direction, Secretary [Sean] Duffy in his capacity as acting NASA Administrator, is meeting with and vetting several candidates for the permanent role.”\u00a0<\/p>\n NASA AT A CROSSROADS: TRUMP\u2019S PLAN TO REFOCUS, EXPLORE AND BEAT CHINA<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n NASA is once again considering Elon Musk ally Jared Isaacman for the administration\u2019s top role. (Tom Williams\/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)<\/p>\n The nomination was pulled on May 31, one day after the White House held a farewell press conference for Musk, the SpaceX and Tesla CEO who led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) efforts<\/a>.<\/p>\n Trump announced on social media at the time he was pulling the nomination for Isaacman, a commercial astronaut and founder and CEO of payment processing company Shift4 Payments after “a thorough review of prior associations.”<\/p>\n Trump also said he would unveil a “new Nominee who will be Mission aligned, and put America First in Space.”<\/p>\n NASA SAYS AMERICA WILL WIN \u2018THE SECOND SPACE RACE\u2019 AGAINST CHINA<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n DOT Secretary Sean Duffy has served as acting NASA administrator.\u00a0 (STEFANI REYNOLDS\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n Isaacman\u2019s affiliations with Musk include being an investor in SpaceX, in addition to leading two private spaceflight missions<\/a> with SpaceX, including Inspiration4. The 2021 Inspiration4 mission was the first time an all-civilian crew orbited Earth.<\/p>\n The billionaire investor flew twice to space in the company\u2019s capsules.<\/p>\n He had spent months navigating the Senate\u2019s confirmation process at the time his nomination was yanked, balancing NASA\u2019s multi-billion-dollar strategy to return to the moon first and its focus on Mars. NASA recently unveiled plans to develop a nuclear reactor on the moon.\u00a0<\/p>\n Isaacman said he suspected his ties to Musk were part of the decision, noting the call came the same day Musk\u2019s tenure with DOGE concluded.<\/p>\n “I don\u2019t need to play dumb on this,” Isaacman said on the “All In” podcast. “I don\u2019t think that the timing was much of a coincidence, that there were other changes going on the same day.<\/p>\n “There were some people that had some axes to grind, I guess, and I was a good, visible target.”<\/p>\n TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY DUFFY TO ANNOUNCE NUCLEAR REACTOR DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR THE MOON<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Isaacman took two SpaceX flights into space.\u00a0 (Space X \/ Fox News)<\/p>\n Tensions between Trump and Musk came to a head when Musk came out against the “Big Beautiful Bill,” Trump\u2019s massive tax and spending package.<\/p>\n CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n![\"Jared](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/jared-isaacman-1.jpg\")
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