Donald Trump speaks out on NASA astronauts stuck in space for nine months
It's hard to tell, but I think Donald Trump is very fond of Sunita Williams' hair.
The NASA astronaut - along with colleague Barry 'Butch' Wilmore - has been stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) since June 2024.
They were only supposed to be there for eight days, but were forced to extend their stay due to technical issues with the spacecraft, as well as Joe Biden's alleged reluctance to bring them home, says Wilmore.
President Trump on the other hand promised on Thursday (7 March) to use his sidekick and SpaceX boss Elon Musk to work on their return to Earth.
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Watch below as the 78-year-old takes time out to compliment Williams' zero gravity hair-do:
"Biden left them up there," Trump said to the reporters in the Oval Office.
"We have two astronauts that are stuck in space. I have asked Elon (Musk), I said, ‘Do me a favour. Can you get them out?' He said, ‘Yes.'
"He is preparing to go up, I think in two weeks."
He claims that the world's richest man is 'right now preparing a ship to go up' and get them.
"And I see the woman with the wild hair, good, solid head of hair she's got. There's no kidding, there's no games with her hair," Trump added.
Addressing the two astronauts, he said: "We love you, and we're coming up to get you. And you shouldn't have been up there so long."
Things then got a little weirder, as the POTUS added: "We're going to get them out. We're coming up to get you.
"They've been left up there. I hope they like each other, but they've been... maybe they'll love each other, I don't know, but they've been left up there. Think of it.
"There's a danger up there too. It can have some failures up there. That would be very bad. You got to get them out."
With Musk's SpaceX being tasked with bringing the crew back to Earth, Wilmore and Williams are expected to return no earlier than 19 March.
The pair were asked in a press conference on Tuesday (4 March) if the Biden administration declined Musk's offer to bring them back earlier.
"I can only say that Mr Musk, what he says, is absolutely factual," Wilmore claimed.
"So I believe him. I don't know all those details, and I don't think any of us really can give you the answer that maybe that you would be hoping for."
Musk added on X: "The astronauts were only supposed to be up there for eight days and now have been there for eight months.
"SpaceX could have sent up another Dragon and brought them home six months ago, but the Biden-Harris White House (not NASA) refused to allow it.
"President Trump asked to bring them back as soon as possible and we are doing so."
Topics: Donald Trump, Space, US News, Elon Musk, NASA
Anish Vij