E-Paper
Donald Trump's message to Sunita Williams: ‘We love you, coming to get you’
President Donald Trump said in a message to Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore that they would be rescued soon and blamed the Biden administration for the delay
US President Donald Trump told stranded NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore that they would soon be brought back to Earth after nine months at the International Space Station (ISS).
While addressing reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said, “We love you and we're coming up to get you."
The President also said that when the two astronauts come back, he would be ready to greet them.
Trump also took a dig at the Biden administration, "You shouldn’t have been up there so long. The most incompetent president in our history has allowed that to happen to you, but this president won’t let it happen.”
Earlier, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk had also blamed former President Joe Biden for refusing to send a rescue craft to space, alleging that Biden had caused unnecessary delays to the mission.
Also Read: Sunita Williams' homecoming: When, where and how will NASA astronaut return?
Astronaut Butch Wilmore responded to these claims during a virtual press conference and said, “I can only say that Elon Musk, what he says, is absolutely factual. I believe him."
During his address at the Oval Office, Trump also made light of the situation, expressing his hope that Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams had found love in space.
"They’ve been left up there. Think of it. And I see the woman with the wild hair, good, solid hair she’s got. There’s no kidding, there’s no games with her hair," he said.
Sunita Williams to return soon
Donald Trump also indicated that Elon Musk's SpaceX would be involved in the mission to bring Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore back home.
“I authorised Elon a week ago. I said, ‘You know, we have two people up there that Biden and Kamala (Harris) left up there’. And he knows it very well. I said, ‘Are you equipped to get them?’ He said, ‘Yeah'," said Trump.
He stated that Elon Musk was preparing a ship that would bring the astronauts back to Earth in the next two weeks.
Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams reached the ISS in June, 2024 aboard the Boeing Starliner capsule, which was then deemed too dangerous to transport them back to Earth.
In September, 2024, SpaceX launched a Crew Dragon capsule aimed at rescuing the astronauts but the launch was stalled after NASA raised concerns.
NASA announced last month that a used crew capsule with US astronaut Nick Hague and Russia's Alexander Gorbunov would depart on March 12, and would stay at the ISS for two weeks, before returning with Wilmore and Williams.
