On Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced on his social media platform Truth Social that he is renominating Shift4 founder Jared Isaacman to lead NASA, the nation’s space agency. This reversal comes months after he withdrew the initial nomination.
The change in plans follows weeks of online criticism from Elon Musk and others directed at Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, who has been leading NASA in an interim capacity.
Jared Isaacman, who is also a billionaire pilot and private astronaut, responded to the announcement. He wrote on the platform X that the support from the space-loving community has been overwhelming. He stated he is not sure how he earned the trust of so many but will do everything he can to live up to those expectations.
Earlier on Tuesday, before the renomination was announced, Isaacman posted his vision for NASA on the same platform. He decided to publish his plans after a draft version was circulated in Washington among those seeking to keep Duffy in charge of NASA. Isaacman said he suspected political operators were causing the controversy between himself and Duffy.