President Donald Trump was asked to share a message from the Oval Office Thursday for the pair of NASA astronauts whose one-week mission has turned into an eight-monthlong stay aboard the International Space Station.
“We love you, and we’re coming up to get you, and you shouldn’t have been up there so long,” Trump began.
He took a swipe at former President Joe Biden, saying that “the most incompetent president in our history has allowed that to happen to you, but this president won’t let that happen.”
“We’re going to get them out. We’re coming up to get you. I’ve authorized Elon [Musk], I said, ‘Can you get ‘em out?’ Because, you know, because they’ve been left up there. I hope they like each other,” Trump said.
“Maybe they’ll love each other, I don’t know,” he added, amid stifled giggles from those in the room.
The NASA pair, Butch Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams, are expected home later this month, at which point they will have logged around nine months in space.
Wilmore is married with two daughters; Williams is also married and has pet dogs.
They departed for the space station aboard a Boeing Starliner test flight in June. The Starliner experienced a number of technical problems, however, leading NASA to determine the spacecraft was too risky to use in their return flight. In September, the Starliner returned to Earth in one piece, but her crew remained behind for safety.
NASA says a SpaceX capsule is expected to be launched to the International Space Station on March 12, docking March 13.
“They’re preparing it right now,” Trump said of the ship, suggesting that he may greet the pair upon their return.
The four-person crew will replace Williams and Wilmore after a layover of an unspecified duration between the teams.
Despite their mission lasting far longer than planned, the pair said they have been enjoying their time in space, although they are eager to get back to their families.
“That’s what human space flight is all about, planning for unexpected contingencies, and we did that,” Williams said in a press conference earlier this week.
Trump also offered a comment specifically about Williams’ hair — in videos and photos from the space station, her usually shoulder-length hair can be seen floating around her head, unbound by gravity.
“I see the woman with the wild hair. The good, solid head of hair she’s got. There’s no kidding, there’s no games with her hair,” he said.
He asked a reporter whether he should accompany the crew on the flight himself.
“If that’s an option, yes,” the reporter replied.
“That’s terrible,” Trump said. “I thought he liked me.”