Trump Nominates Jared Isaacman For NASA Administrator — Elon Musk Reacts

Billionaire and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's close ally and Shift4 Payments Inc. (NASDAQ:FOUR) CEO Jared Isaacman has been nominated for the NASA Administrator role by President Donald Trump.

Donald Trump Appoints Jared Isaacman

Taking to the social media platform Truth Social on Tuesday, which Trump owns, the President hailed Isaacman as an "accomplished business leader." He also said that Isaacman's "passion for Space" as well as "advancing the new Space Economy" make him an ideal candidate to "lead NASA into a bold new era."

Reacting to the news, Musk took to the social media platform X on Tuesday, posting a screenshot of Trump's announcement.

Isaacman also took to X with a post. ‘Thank You, Mr President,' he said, also hailing Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy's role as the interim NASA administrator. "NASA will never be a caretaker of history–but will forever make history," Isaacman said.

Sean Duffy Vs Elon Musk

The news comes days after Duffy and Musk faced off against each other following comments made by Duffy regarding SpaceX's delays in the run-up to 2027's Artemis Mission to the Moon. Duffy also hinted at opening up bids for SpaceX's competitors.

This prompted Musk to criticize Duffy, calling him a person with a “2 digit IQ." He also accused Duffy of trying to “kill NASA” in a series of social media posts. SpaceX recently released a statement outlining an expedited approach to the Artemis mission and touting its launch capabilities.

Meanwhile, Isaacman's nomination comes as reports earlier emerged that he was back in the running for the role, facing competition from a retired US Air Force Lieutenant General Joseph Guastella, an executive with Northrop Grumman Corp (NYSE:NOC).

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