Elon Musk has praised his close ally Jared Isaacman after President Donald Trump dropped him as his nominee for NASA administrator on Saturday.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he was withdrawing Isaacman’s nomination after a “thorough review of prior associations” and that he would soon announced a new, “mission aligned” nominee.
News of Trump’s decision broke earlier in the day, and Musk was swift to respond.
“It is rare to find someone so competent and good-hearted,” he wrote of Isaacman in a post on X.
Isaacman, the founder of payments company Shift4, was part of the SpaceX Polaris Dawn crew in 2024 and led the first private space walk.
In a social media statement Saturday, Isaacman said he was “incredibly grateful to President Trump” and “all those who supported me throughout this journey.”
“I have gained a much deeper appreciation for the complexities of government and the weight our political leaders carry,” he continued, adding: “I have not flown my last mission.”
Trump had nominated Isaacman in December, calling him an “accomplished business leader” and saying he was “ideally suited to lead NASA” forward.
Isaacman’s subsequent removal as nominee comes days after Musk said he was stepping back from his role as a “special government employee” in the Trump administration, ending his time with the White House DOGE office.
Trump’s move appears to have come as a shock to supporters of Isaacman, with some experts questioning what it means for NASA.
Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said missing out on Isaacman was “bad news for the agency.”
“So not having @rookisaacman as boss of NASA is bad news for the agency. Maybe a good thing for Jared himself though, since being NASA head right now is a bit of a Kobayashi Maru scenario,” he wrote on X.
Montana Republican Senator Tim Sheehy also took to X to air his support for Isaacman, saying he was a “strong choice” to head NASA and that he “strongly” opposed any efforts to “derail his nomination.”