TOKYO \u2014 President Donald Trump says it would have been \u201cinappropriate\u201d for Jared Isaacman to lead NASA given his ties to Elon Musk and history of political donations, without offering any clues on who he might instead choose to lead the space agency.<\/p>\n
In a July 6 post<\/a> on Truth Social, the social media service affiliated with Trump, the president sharply criticized Elon Musk for announcing plans to create a new political party triggered by the passage last week of a budget reconciliation bill that Musk strongly opposed.<\/p>\n That criticism included a discussion of the White House\u2019s original nominee to lead NASA, Jared Isaacman. \u201cElon asked that one of his close friends run NASA and, while I thought his friend was very good, I was surprised to learn that he was a blue-blooded Democrat, who had never contributed to a Republican before,\u201d the post stated.<\/p>\n The statement about his political contributions is incorrect based on public records<\/a>. Isaacman has donated to Republican candidates<\/a>, including Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), now the chairman of the House Transportation Committee. However, more recent donations, including those in the 2024 election cycle, were to Democratic candidates and organizations. That donation history almost certainly would have been part of the vetting process for his nomination, which Trump announced in December 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n Isaacman has also pushed back on claims, advanced by Democratic senators during the confirmation process, that he is close friends with Musk. \u201cI do not have a close personal relationship with Mr. Musk,\u201d he said in written responses to questions for the record<\/a> after his April 9 confirmation hearing, calling his relationship with Musk \u201cprofessional.\u201d He also denied that Musk had contacted him about leading NASA, saying that his interactions were with the Trump transition team.<\/p>\n Trump, in his social media post, appeared to echo concerns by Democrats during the confirmation process about potential conflicts of interest regarding someone with at least some ties to SpaceX \u2014 Isaacman flew two private astronaut missions on SpaceX spacecraft \u2014 leading the agency.<\/p>\n \u201cI also thought it inappropriate that a very close friend of Elon, who was in the Space Business, run NASA, when NASA is such a big part of Elon\u2019s corporate life,\u201d Trump stated. He did not state why he didn\u2019t raise those concerns earlier, particularly when praising Isaacman at the time he nominated him.<\/p>\n \u201cJared\u2019s passion for Space, astronaut experience, and dedication to pushing the boundaries of exploration, unlocking the mysteries of the universe, and advancing the new Space economy, make him ideally suited to lead NASA into a bold new Era,\u201d Trump wrote<\/a> in December.<\/p>\n