President Donald Trump provided an update on the stranded NASA astronauts set to make their way back to Earth in a social media post on Monday.
In a Truth Social post, Trump said that he recently conferred with Janet Petro, the acting administrator of NASA, who is coordinating the return of NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams.
“She is coordinating our Team of highly respected Scientists, Space Engineers, and various other ‘geniuses,’ who has agreed to let our Astronauts come home long prior to the two week period originally approved by NASA,” Trump wrote.
“Janet was great. She said, ‘Let’s bring them home NOW, Sir!’ — And I thanked her.”
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The president also took a swipe at his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, and accused him of “forgetting” about Wilmore and Williams. Trump also spoke about Elon Musk and Space X’s involvement in the return mission.
“This began when I asked Elon Musk to go up and get the abandoned Astronauts, because the Biden Administration was incapable of doing so,” Trump claimed. “They shamefully forgot about the Astronauts, because they considered it to be a very embarrassing event for them – Another thing I inherited from that failed group of incompetents.”
“Elon and I have taken on the project, sending up the SpaceX Dragon, which has successfully docked and, hopefully, while there is always danger involved in such a mission, they will soon be on their way home — Taking off tomorrow, and landing on Wednesday,” he continued.
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Trump also added that officials will release more information about the astronauts’ return in the coming days.
“Safety always comes first, and maximum standards are being adhered to. But after eight long months for a mission that was supposed to be eight days, IT IS TIME,” he concluded. “I look forward to seeing Butch and Suni, and thank you again to NASA and Janet Petro!”
Williams and Wilmore have been stranded at the International Space Station (ISS) since June of last year. Originally planning to only be in space for a week, they have patiently waited for a return to Earth after issues forced NASA to bring the Boeing Starliner back empty last summer.
On Sunday, SpaceX’s Crew-10 arrived at the ISS to relieve Williams and Wilmore, who will enter their own SpaceX capsule on their way back to Earth.
Splashdown for Williams and Wilmore’s long-awaited return to Earth is scheduled for Tuesday at 5:57 p.m., if everything goes according to plan.
Fox News Digital’s Landon Mion and Pilar Arias contributed to this report.
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