Nov. 4 (UPI) — President Donald Trump tapped Jared Isaacman to lead NASA on Tuesday just months after withdrawing his nomination of the billionaire entrepreneur to lead the space agency.
Trump announced the reversal in a social media post praising Isaacman who has twice flown to space on private missions.
“Jared’s 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,” Trump wrote.
However, Trump did not explain his aboutface on Isaacman, who saw his nomination withdrawn in May just ahead of the Senate’s confirmation vote. At the time, Trump cited a “thorough review of prior associations” as the reason for withdrawing Isaacman’s nomination.
Isaacman is a commercial astronaut who has ties to SpaceX, a space transportation and aeronautics company headed by business titan Elon Musk. Trump withdrew Isaacman’s nomination the same day Musk left the White House after his stint running the Department of Government Efficiency.
Musk’s departure precipitated a very public rift with Trump, who later took to social media to call his former political ally a “train wreck” who had sought to have “one of his close friends run NASA.” That close friend, Trump wrote in his post, was a “blue-blooded Democrat who had never contributed to a Republican before.”
Since withdrawing Isaacman’s nomination, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has been serving as interim NASA administrator.
Isaacman, for his part, responded with a post on X thanking Trump and expressing gratitude to the “space-loving community.”
“To the innovators building the orbital economy, to the scientists pursuing breakthrough discoveries and to dreamers across the world eager for a return to the Moon and the grand journey beyond–these are the most exciting times since the dawn of the space age– and I truly believe the future we have all been waiting for will soon become reality,” he wrote.