Billionaire Elon Musk is furious over the Trump administrationʼs decision to withdraw Jared Isaacman, a close associate of his, as NASA administrator.
This is reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Musk actively lobbied for Isaacman to take the job. He was the first non-professional astronaut in outer space — in September, SpaceX launched the first commercial research mission Polaris Dawn, which included the billionaire. Journalists call Isaacman a close associate of Elon Musk. The entrepreneur has no political or government experience, unlike the two previous heads of NASA.
The rejection of his candidacy angered Musk immensely. He complained to acquaintances that he had spent “hundreds of millions of dollars” on Trump’s election campaign and was now seeing his protégés removed.
People close to Musk say Isaacmanʼs removal has contributed to aggressive criticism of Trumpʼs tax bill, a tax-and-spending bill that, as it stands, would increase the budget deficit by $600 billion but would also expand tax breaks, raise the debt ceiling and include significant new spending on border security and the military.
The billionaire called the tax bill a “disgusting abomination”. As early as June 4, Musk urged his 220 million followers on X to call congressmen demanding that they “kill the bill”.
Musk and Trump have often supported each other publicly in the past. However, the negative comment about the bill is the first public disagreement with Trumpʼs policies since Musk left the White House. And Trump, as the WSJ writes, is "losing patience".
The publicationʼs sources do not know how this will affect the relationship between Trump and Musk, but emphasize that the US president does not forget the insult.
Even before Musk’s negative comments about the tax bill, some Trump allies were worried that Musk would become more open to criticizing the administration after leaving the White House. So some Trump administration officials encouraged lawmakers to praise Musk on social media, thanking him for his service, hoping that would help avoid future conflicts.
White House officials have disputed claims that Isaacman’s withdrawal was aimed at a Musk ally, citing Isaacman’s past donations to Democrats. However, Isaacman himself said in a recent podcast that officials had known about the donations for months. According to sources, Isaacman believes Musk’s departure from the administration provided an opportunity to remove him.
A senior White House official says President Trump is unhappy with Muskʼs decision to criticize the budget proposal and doesnʼt understand the entrepreneurʼs motives. House Speaker Mike Johnson said he was stunned by Muskʼs criticism, noting that he had "done a 180-degree turn" since their friendly conversation on June 2.
- Donald Trump nominated Jared Isaacman as his nominee to head NASA on December 4, 2024. At the time, he said that "Jared will lead NASA forward on a path of discovery and inspiration".
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