NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Willians thanked President Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk in their first interview since being rescued after spending nine months stranded on the international Space Station.
The pair were rescued by a SpaceX crew on March 18 after a problem with their Boeing Starliner turned their week-long planned mission into a nine-month extended stay — and they spoke about their experience during a Monday interview on “America’s Newsroom” with Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer.
Noting that the rescue mission — which Elon Musk had offered to undertake last year, but was reportedly shut down by President Joe Biden’s administration — had been a priority for both Musk and President Trump, Hemmer asked, “What would you like to say to President Trump and Elon Musk?”
WATCH:
One of the astronauts who was stranded in space for nearly nine months says President Trump and @elonmusk have “earned his trust,” adding their leadership has been “strengthening for our nation.” | @BillHemmer @AmericaNewsroom pic.twitter.com/5CmHRzzHKw
— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 31, 2025
“I respect you. I trust you. You’ve given me no reason not to trust you, either one of them. What they say, I can’t say what they say. I haven’t lived that. But I have no reason not to believe anything they say because they’ve earned my trust,” Wilmore said. “And for that, I am grateful that our national leaders actually are coming in and taking part in our human spaceflight program, which we see is hugely important global significance and they take an active role and based on the past and what we see now with them doing that it’s refreshing – not just refreshing – it’s empowering.”
“It’s strengthening for our nation, I think it’s a good thing for our nation when the national leaders, especially something that’s high visibility, are involved in the process and I’m grateful for that,” he added.
Williams also responded to the question, saying that she, too, was grateful that Trump and Musk had made their safe return to earth a priority.
“I’m just glad that they’re involved and they take notice. And, our situation, I think I mentioned before, maybe wasn’t the perfect situation, but allowed a lot of people, including the President and Elon, to look at what’s going on on the International Space Station, take it very seriously and understand that our involvement as a country, as a spacefaring nation, is really important throughout the world,” she said. “And it sets an example and it shows, you know, our ability to be able to do the hard things, put people in space, operate in space work in space and then bring us back. It’s important and I appreciate that them and many, many, many more people took notice of it.”
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[[{“value”:”
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Willians thanked President Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk in their first interview since being rescued after spending nine months stranded on the international Space Station.
The pair were rescued by a SpaceX crew on March 18 after a problem with their Boeing Starliner turned their week-long planned mission into a nine-month extended stay — and they spoke about their experience during a Monday interview on “America’s Newsroom” with Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer.
Noting that the rescue mission — which Elon Musk had offered to undertake last year, but was reportedly shut down by President Joe Biden’s administration — had been a priority for both Musk and President Trump, Hemmer asked, “What would you like to say to President Trump and Elon Musk?”
WATCH:
One of the astronauts who was stranded in space for nearly nine months says President Trump and @elonmusk have “earned his trust,” adding their leadership has been “strengthening for our nation.” | @BillHemmer @AmericaNewsroom pic.twitter.com/5CmHRzzHKw
— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 31, 2025
“I respect you. I trust you. You’ve given me no reason not to trust you, either one of them. What they say, I can’t say what they say. I haven’t lived that. But I have no reason not to believe anything they say because they’ve earned my trust,” Wilmore said. “And for that, I am grateful that our national leaders actually are coming in and taking part in our human spaceflight program, which we see is hugely important global significance and they take an active role and based on the past and what we see now with them doing that it’s refreshing – not just refreshing – it’s empowering.”
“It’s strengthening for our nation, I think it’s a good thing for our nation when the national leaders, especially something that’s high visibility, are involved in the process and I’m grateful for that,” he added.
Williams also responded to the question, saying that she, too, was grateful that Trump and Musk had made their safe return to earth a priority.
“I’m just glad that they’re involved and they take notice. And, our situation, I think I mentioned before, maybe wasn’t the perfect situation, but allowed a lot of people, including the President and Elon, to look at what’s going on on the International Space Station, take it very seriously and understand that our involvement as a country, as a spacefaring nation, is really important throughout the world,” she said. “And it sets an example and it shows, you know, our ability to be able to do the hard things, put people in space, operate in space work in space and then bring us back. It’s important and I appreciate that them and many, many, many more people took notice of it.”
“}]]
