Trump made the announcement on Truth Social, writing, "I have just asked Elon Musk and SpaceX to 'go get' the 2 brave astronauts who have been virtually abandoned in space by the Biden Administration. Good luck Elon!!!"
Writing on X on Tuesday, Musk confirmed that he would comply with Trump's request, saying his company would bring the astronauts home "as soon as possible."
Who are the Astronauts Stuck Onboard the ISS?
NASA astronauts Sunita "Suni" Williams and Barry "Butch" Wilmore arrived at the ISS in June 2024 aboard Boeing's Starliner capsule for what was originally planned as an eight-day test flight.
However, due to technical issues, the capsule was deemed unsafe for their return trip, and NASA arranged for them to return instead on a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule already docked at the station.
When Were the Astronauts Due to Return?
The necessity of Trump's personal involvement in the mission is unclear, as NASA had already scheduled the astronauts' return for late March or possibly April.
Musk, who has become a key figure in Trump's re-election campaign and was recently appointed head of Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency, quickly responded. "We will do so," Musk wrote on X Tuesday, without offering further details.
NASA and Boeing's Starliner Setbacks
Williams and Wilmore's mission was supposed to be a major milestone for Boeing's Starliner program, which aims to provide an alternative to SpaceX's Crew Dragon for ferrying astronauts to and from the ISS.
However, a series of technical problems -- including helium leaks and thruster failures -- forced NASA and Boeing to return the capsule to Earth without a crew in September 2024.
NASA decided that the safest course of action was to leave the two astronauts on the ISS until SpaceX's next crew-rotation mission.
The Crew-9 capsule, which arrived at the ISS in September with two astronauts, was left partially empty specifically to bring Wilmore and Williams home. However, delays in the launch of the Crew-10 mission -- scheduled to replace Crew-9 -- meant NASA pushed back their return to March.
Musk, a longtime advocate of private spaceflight, has expressed frustration with NASA in the past, for example when wrote on X that the Artemis program was "extremely inefficient."
Despite Trump's assertion that the astronauts were "abandoned," NASA has consistently maintained that Wilmore and Williams are not stranded and are in good health.
As of now, the astronauts remain on the ISS, and NASA has not officially commented on whether SpaceX's Crew-9 capsule will return earlier than planned.