Trump to withdraw nomination of Musk associate for NASA chief?

President Donald Trump is withdrawing the nomination of tech billionaire Jared Isaacman, an associate of Elon Musk, to lead NASA, a person familiar with the decision said Saturday, 31 May.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to comment publicly on the administration's personnel decisions. The White House and NASA did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.

I am incredibly grateful to President Trump @POTUS, the Senate and all those who supported me throughout this journey. The past six months have been enlightening and, honestly, a bit thrilling. I have gained a much deeper appreciation for the complexities of government and the…

— Jared Isaacman (@rookisaacman) June 1, 2025

Trump announced in December 2024 during the presidential transition that he had chosen Isaacman to be the space agency's next administrator. Isaacman has been a close collaborator with Musk ever since he bought his first chartered flight on Musk's SpaceX in 2021.

3:15 PM— Elon tweets his support for Jared Isaacman at NASA

3:26 PM— Isaacman officially dropped as NASA nominee

You really just hate to see it pic.twitter.com/ruDT15Gm51

— tom gilbert (@tomgilbert03) May 31, 2025

Isaacman is also the CEO and founder of Shift4, a credit card processing company. He also bought a series of spaceflights from SpaceX and conducted the first private spacewalk.

"Mr. Trump told associates he intended to yank Mr. Isaacman’s nomination after learning that he had donated to prominent Democrats, according to three people with knowledge of the deliberations who were not authorized to discuss them publicly."
-NY Times #NASA #Isaacman #Trump pic.twitter.com/qmycjEihyC

— Benjamin Turon (@BenjaminTuron) June 1, 2025

Isaacman testified at his Senate confirmation hearing on 9 April and a vote to send his nomination to the full Senate was expected soon.

SpaceX is owned by Musk, a Trump supporter and adviser who announced this week that he is after several months at the helm of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. Trump created the agency to slash the size of government and put Musk in charge.

Semafor was first to report that the White House had decided to pull Isaacman's nomination.

This is a huge bummer. Jared is probably the most qualified person for the job. https://t.co/hmRWynbwZo

— Farzad (@farzyness) May 31, 2025