Trump again picks Jared Isaacman to lead NASA, months after pulling his nomination

President Trump on Tuesday nominated Jared Isaacman for a second time to head NASA, months after abruptly pulling the tech billionaire and space traveler’s nomination for the same position.

“This evening, I am pleased to nominate Jared Isaacman, an accomplished business leader, philanthropist, pilot and astronaut as Administrator of NASA. Jared’s passion for Space, astronaut experience and dedication to pushing the boundaries of exploration, unlocking the mysteries of the universe and advancing the new space economy, make him ideally suited to lead NASA into a bold new era,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social, congratulating Mr. Isaacman and his family.

Mr. Trump added that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who was named interim head of NASA in June, “has done an incredible job,” leading the space agency.

The president in May had sent shockwaves through the political and space communities by suddenly yanking Mr. Isaacman’s nomination. Mr. Trump had originally named Mr. Isaacman to head NASA in December.

The president said he was withdrawing Mr. Isaacman’s candidacy “after a thorough review of prior associations,” and vowed to nominate a new nominee who will be “mission aligned and put America First in space.”

Neither Mr. Trump nor the White House explained why Mr. Isaacman’s nomination was yanked until July. That’s when, in a lengthy Truth Social post, the president highlighted Mr. Isaacman’s close ties with former White House advisor Elon Musk, with whom Mr. Trump had a bitter falling out.

Tensions have since cooled between Mr. Trump and Mr. Musk. The two were spotted chatting at the funeral for conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Mr. Trump wrote that while he initially thought Mr. Isaacman “was very good,” the president added that he  “was surprised to learn that he was a blue-blooded Democrat, who had never contributed to a Republican before.”

“Elon probably was, also,” Mr. Trump added. “I also thought it was inappropriate that a very close friend of Elon, who was in the space business, run NASA, when NASA is such a big part of Elon’s corporate life.”

Mr. Isaacman founded Shift4, a payment processing company, when he was 16 years old. He is a seasoned space traveler, having led two private space flights with Mr. Musk’s SpaceX in 2021 and 2024. Shift4 invested $27.5 million in SpaceX, according to a 2021 filing.

Recently, Mr. Isaacman and Mr. Trump have had multiple in-person meetings to talk about the Shift4 founder’s vision for the space program, according to a Bloomberg report. The talks, which kicked into high gear last month, were focused on reigniting Mr. Isaacman’s candidacy to lead NASA.

The space agency faces major challenges. Mr. Trump has proposed slashing more than $6 billion from its budget, and he has laid off roughly 4,000 NASA employees, cutting the space agency’s staff of 18,000 by roughly one-fifth.

During the government shutdown, NASA has made exceptions that allow employees to keep working on missions involving Mr. Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin.