Elon Musk ally loses Trump's backing for Nasa top job
Donald Trump has dropped a SpaceX astronaut as his candidate to lead Nasa just hours after Elon Musk left the White House.
Jared Isaacman, a technology entrepreneur who has flown on two missions for Mr Musk's rocket business, had been tipped to lead Nasa under Mr Trump.
However, the president said on Sunday he had withdrawn his nomination 'after a thorough review of prior associations'.
Some Republicans had raised questions about Mr Isaacman's past political donations. The entrepreneur had previously donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Democrat politicians, although he also gave $2m (£1.5m) to Mr Trump's inauguration fund last year.
Mr Trump said on Truth Social: 'After a thorough review of prior associations, I am hereby withdrawing the nomination of Jared Isaacman to head NASA. I will soon announce a new Nominee who will be Mission aligned, and put America First in Space. Thank you for your attention to this matter!'
The decision comes hours after Mr Musk officially left his role in the Trump administration. At an Oval Office press conference on Friday, Mr Trump praised him as 'one of the greatest business leaders and innovators the world has ever produced'.
However, Mr Musk's exit follows signs of growing tension between the pair. Mr Musk has publicly derided several of Mr Trump's policies, labelling his planned tax and spending bill 'disappointing', while Tesla, his electric car business, has criticised White House plans to strip subsidies from clean energy products.
Mr Isaacman's nomination had been welcomed by the space industry, who viewed him as an experienced businessman with first-hand experience of space travel.
The 41-year-old became both the first billionaire and first private citizen to walk in space last year when he led SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission. He founded Shift4 Payments in 1999, aged just 16. The business is now worth $8bn.
As head of Nasa, he would have been in charge of preparing for a space mission to take humans back to the Moon in 2027 using Mr Musk's Starship rocket. Mr Musk said on Sunday: 'It is rare to find someone so competent and good-hearted.'
In a post on X, Mr Isaacman said: 'The President, Nasa and the American people deserve the very best – an administrator ready to reorganise, rebuild and rally the best and brightest minds to deliver the world-changing headlines Nasa was built to create.'
A White House spokesman said: 'The administrator of Nasa will help lead humanity into space and execute President Trump's bold mission of planting the American flag on the planet Mars. It's essential that the next leader of Nasa is in complete alignment with President Trump's America First agenda and a replacement will be announced directly by President Trump soon.'
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