Trump and Elon Musk Say They're Working to Get Astronauts Stuck on Space Station, but NASA Says It Already Has a Plan

Elon Musk says Donald Trump has asked SpaceX to rescue two astronauts who have been in space for more than seven months — even though NASA has said there's a plan in place.

In a post on X shared Tuesday, Jan. 28, Musk claimed Trump had made a request that SpaceX bring home the “stranded” astronauts — Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore — “as soon as possible.”

The SpaceX CEO, 53, vowed to fulfill the request and then suggested it was “terrible that the Biden administration left them there so long.”

Trump later explained on his Truth Social platform Tuesday that he "asked Elon Musk and @SpaceX to 'go get' the 2 brave astronauts who have been virtually abandoned in space by the Biden Administration."

Related: Astronaut Whose Return to Earth Keeps Getting Delayed Says She's Been 'Trying to Remember What It’s Like to Walk'

"They have been waiting for many months on @Space Station," the president added. "Elon will soon be on his way. Hopefully, all will be safe. Good luck Elon!!!"

However, NASA has already been working with SpaceX for months on a project to bring the astronauts back to Earth.

In December, NASA said it was working with SpaceX to "complete processing” on the Dragon spacecraft that will be sent to fetch the astronauts which will happen “no earlier than late March,” according to the space agency.

“Fabrication, assembly, testing, and final integration of a new spacecraft is a painstaking endeavor that requires great attention to detail,” Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, said.

Williams and Wilmore originally entered space in June 2024 for what was supposed to be a weeklong test flight of a Boeing Starliner capsule.

But the astronauts’ return was delayed after their spacecraft experienced mechanical issues. After weeks of troubleshooting, the spacecraft was sent back to Earth without them.

At the time, Wilmore said he and WIlliams were "absolutely not” let down upon learning they would be spending several more months in space.

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Williams said there were "a lot of opinions" about how to proceed, but said experts were working hard to make the smartest decisions possible.

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"I think it was really impressive for our leadership and our management to take the time and listen to everybody's opinion, and to really understand where all of that was going," she explained.

PEOPLE reached out to NASA, SpaceX and the White House for comments on Wednesday, Jan. 29.

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