President Donald Trump recently announced the planned return of American astronauts from the International Space Station (ISS) after being stranded there for months due to maintenance delays.
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have spent eight months on the ISS after arriving for what was supposed to be a brief 8-day stay.
President Trump announced their return after speaking with NASA director Janet Petro, who coordinated a return trip with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
“This began when I asked Elon Musk to go up and get the abandoned Astronauts because the Biden Administration was incapable of doing so,” said Trump.
Malfunctions with Butch and Suni’s original spacecraft, a Boeing Starliner, caused their extended stay and, according to Trump and Musk, President Joe Biden’s incompetence further prolonged it.
“(Biden) shamefully forgot about the Astronauts, because they considered it to be a very embarrassing event for them – Another thing I inherited from that failed group of incompetents,” continued Trump.
Trump then requested Musk to direct a SpaceX retrieval of the astronauts to prevent delaying their return any longer.
“Elon and I have taken on the project, sending up the SpaceX Dragon, which has successfully docked and, hopefully, while there is always danger involved in such a mission, they will soon be on their way home,” claimed Trump.
A NASA press release explained the astronauts would depart the ISS early Tuesday morning and land in Florida on Tuesday afternoon.
SpaceX will be livestreaming the astronauts’ return.
The astronauts thanked both Musk and Trump for their efforts.
“We all have the utmost respect for Mr. Musk, and obviously respect and admiration for the President of the United States, Donald Trump,” said astronaut Butch Wilmore.
“I look forward to seeing Butch and Suni, and thank you again to NASA and Janet Petro,” concluded Trump.
