The recent Artemis II mission was a leap forward for the United States in the 21st century’s space race, and President Donald Trump made it clear that the head of NASA deserves a lot of the credit.
Of course, he delivered that praise in a very Trumpian manner, tossing in a good-natured joke at Isaacman’s expense.
The NASA administrator’s prominent ears received a presidential compliment in an exchange that sparked some social media chatter, as The Times reported:
“We have some people that captivated the attention of the whole world,” the president said, acknowledging the astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen, before the focus of the event took a different trajectory.
ADVERTISEMENT“It takes people like this to make our country great … We’re very proud of these people, they have unbelievable courage,” he added.
The president complimented Jared Isaacman, the head of Nasa, on his “beautiful ears” and remarked that he must have “the best hearing”. “I like space,” he said. “Is a president allowed to go up on one of these missions?”
“Sure, we can get working on that, sir,” Isaacman replied.
The moment of levity quickly began to spread online:
HILARIOUS: President Trump to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman: “You heard that question? With those beautiful ears of yours. He’s got great hearing, you know. He’s got super hearing.” pic.twitter.com/Ka4vMgrdSG
— RedWave Press (@RedWavePress) April 29, 2026
Trump always humiliate people in a nice way
— It’s Samer 😎 (@SamerTheFutureM) April 30, 2026
And the jokes went both ways, as many social media users pointed out:
Isaacman responded: "Trick of the trade, sir" pic.twitter.com/YpB9b2nJGm
— John Hudson (@John_Hudson) April 29, 2026
As Space reported, Isaacman was also on Capitol Hill this week, testifying on the NASA budget and including one off-topic space-related query regarding the International Astronomical Union’s 2006 decision to declassify Pluto as a planet:
The IAU defined a planet according to three newly pronounced criteria: It has to orbit the sun, be massive enough to be spherical, and clear its orbit of debris. Pluto fell short on the third count, according to the IAU, as it shares space in the distant Kuiper Belt with many other dwarf planets. But Earth shares orbital space with lots of asteroids, as does Jupiter, Pluto-planet advocates note. So why was Pluto singled out?
We now know that such Pluto defenders include Isaacman, a billionaire private astronaut and tech entrepreneur who became NASA chief this past December.
Isaacman testified about the White House’s 2027 NASA budget request today (April 28) before the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations. At the very end of the hearing, Republican Sen. Jerry Moran asked the NASA administrator his thoughts on Pluto, noting that Tombaugh hailed from Moran’s home state of Kansas.
“Senator, I am very much in the camp of ‘make Pluto a planet again,'” Isaacman replied.
Here’s a longer clip of the recent White House event:
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