Why Is Sunita Williams Still In Space? Elon Musk, Donald Trump Have An Answer

Last Updated:February 19, 2025, 13:14 IST

Donald Trump and Elon Musk claimed the Biden administration left NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore stranded in space for political reasons.

Elon Musk with Donald Trump (L)/Sunita Williams (R) (Photos: AP/Reuters)

US President Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday claimed that NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore were left stranded at Space Station (ISS) by the previous Joe Biden administration.

In an exclusive interview with Fox News, Trump said, “Joe Biden was going to leave stranded NASA astronauts, including Sunita Williams, in space, to which, Elon Musk was quick to add that the reason was “political".

“At the President’s request, or instruction, we are accelerating the return of the astronauts, which was postponed, kind of, to a ridiculous degree," Elon Musk said on being asked about the return of the two astronauts.

“They got left in space," Trump chimed in.

“Yes, they were left up there for political reasons, which is not good," Musk said.

“We don’t want to be complacent, but we have brought astronauts back from the space station many times before, and always with success," Musk responded to a question about Space X’s mission to bring back Williams and Wilmore.

“I think it’s about – about four weeks to bring them back," he added, upon being questioned about the timeline of the mission to bring them back.

“You now have the go-ahead," Trump said.

“Yes. Well, thanks to you," Musk responded.

Trump then claimed that Musk’s company didn’t have the go-ahead with the Biden administration.

“He (Biden) was going to leave him in space. I think he was going to leave them in space, can you believe it?" the US President said.

SUNITA WILLIAMS, BUTCH WILMORE SAY ‘NOT ABANDONED’

NASA’s Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore — the two astronauts who launched on Boeing Starliner’s first crewed test flight, have been in low-Earth orbit since June.

Following Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s January claims that the two astronauts were left high and dry by the prior administration, the duo had said that they “were not stranded, nor have been abandoned" at the ISS.

“That’s been the rhetoric. That’s been the narrative from day one: stranded, abandoned, stuck — and I get it. We both get it," Wilmore said.

“But that is, again, not what our human spaceflight program is about. We don’t feel abandoned, we don’t feel stuck, we don’t feel stranded."

Wilmore added a request: “If you’ll help us change the rhetoric, help us change the narrative. Let’s change it to ‘prepared and committed.’ That’s what we prefer," he said.

Williams also reiterated a sentiment she has expressed on several occasions, including in interviews conducted before she left Earth. “Butch and I knew this was a test flight," she told CNN, acknowledging the pair has been prepared for contingencies and understood that the stay in space might be extended.

“We knew that we would probably find some things (wrong with Starliner) and we found some stuff, and so that was not a surprise," she said.

TRUMP AND MUSK’s CLAIMS

In January this year, Elon Musk said the Biden administration had left the two astronauts “stranded" and that Trump had asked SpaceX to step in to rescue them.

“The POTUS has asked SpaceX to bring home the 2 astronauts stranded on the Space Station as soon as possible. We will do so. Terrible that the Biden administration left them there so long," Musk wrote in an X post.

Later, Trump also weighed in, posting on his Truth Social platform that Williams and Wilmore were “virtually abandoned in space by the Biden Administration."

However, it should be noted that NASA had already put such a plan in place in August — well before Musk or Trump mentioned it. In December, a delay in the departure was announced after the mission teams said they needed more time to prepare a new SpaceX vehicle.

In the latest, NASA said it may bring Wilmore and Williams home a couple of weeks sooner. However, after opting to change the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule it will be used to launch the Crew-10 mission.

The Crew-10 mission includes NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov.

News world Why Is Sunita Williams Still In Space? Elon Musk, Donald Trump Have An Answer