Astronauts stood behind Trump, silently listening as he recounted stories about Earth.
As Trump spoke about the war in Iran, the astronauts maintained cautious and neutral expressions.
CNN reported on April 29, 2024.
During an event held in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington D.C., Artemis 2 astronauts accompanied President Donald Trump as he answered questions from the media.
The Artemis 2 astronauts arrived at the White House's Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon—quietly listening as President Donald Trump discussed unidentified flying objects, the Space Force, and the war in Iran.
When White House reporters entered, the astronauts were already standing behind Trump—who was seated behind a sturdy desk adorned with a gilded moon model.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman also stood alongside the astronauts.
"I don't know how they do it. I wouldn't want to do it myself, but that’s exactly the kind of people we need to make our country great," Trump said.
Trump briefly outlined his priorities in space, some of which emerged during journalists' follow-up questions: He praised his establishment of the Space Force during his first term, reiterated his intention to release classified information related to UFOs, and stated that it is highly likely someone will return to the Moon during his administration.
"We don’t want to be too definitive, because then you’d say, ‘Oh, we failed,’" Trump said. "But we have a real chance—we’ve already authorized it."
Isaacman confirmed ongoing efforts to send humans back to the lunar surface by 2028 and detailed the continued plan to launch the Artemis III mission in 2027.
He also affirmed that NASA headquarters would remain in Washington D.C., calling its location in the nation’s capital a “strength”—a view shared by Trump.
The remainder of the event evolved into a more informal press briefing.
On Wednesday, Trump did not ask the astronauts to respond to his statements. However, when he insisted that former FBI Director James Comey had threatened his life via social media posts and claimed that wars in Ukraine and Iran might end on a "similar timeline," the astronauts maintained their cautious and neutral expressions.
While the astronauts had just set a record for the farthest distance traveled from Earth, Trump wrote online: "A complete civilization will be destroyed tonight, forever unrecoverable. I don’t want this to happen—but it very well might."
It remains unclear what the astronauts, who have viewed Earth from space, might think about this.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1863851539411210/
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