Artemis II crew gets a White House welcome. Then Trump hijacks the moment to claim he’s ‘physically very good’ for space
All kinds of awkward.
Artemis II’s astronauts got a White House welcome this week, but the moment quickly spiraled into something far weirder when the President Donald Trump decided to brag about his own astronaut potential. Crew members Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen, had wrapped their 10-day lunar flyby mission on April 11, marking a major milestone for NASA’s Artemis program.
Their visit to the Oval Office on April 29, 2026, was supposed to celebrate that achievement, but the conversation took a sharp turn when the president leaned into the mic and declared, “I’m physically very, very good,” insisting he’d have “no trouble” making it as an astronaut. The Artemis II crew stood on either side of him as he sat in the Oval Office chair, looking like they’d just stepped out of a history book.
According to UNILAD, Wiseman, Glover, Koch, and Hansen had spent more than 690,000 miles looping the moon, testing systems for future missions that aim to land astronauts near the lunar South Pole by 2028. Their mission was a dress rehearsal for deep space, and by all accounts, it went flawlessly.
The Internet wasted no time reacting to Trump’s comments
One user on X called the comments “living in his own world,” while another pointed out the bizarre pattern of every conversation somehow circling back to him. A third joked that the whole exchange sounded like a Saturday Night Live sketch.
The astronauts themselves have been far more gracious about their experience. According to ABC News, Glover, the mission’s pilot, said he was “overjoyed” that people connected with their journey. “We really wanted that, and it’s great to see that it happened,” he said. Koch, who spent 20 days reflecting on the mission, said. “I think we’ve all taken most of our time to really just solidify, to process, to give back, to just feel grateful for the teams that put this together.”
Hansen, the first Canadian to venture into deep space, couldn’t stop gushing about the view. “We saw all the things – the Earth up close, and then it would get further away and get smaller, and every time we’d catch it in the window, one of us would be like, ‘Oh, look at that.’ We’d all go over, over and over again,” he recalled. “Magnificent” was the word he landed on.
There was an unofficial fifth member onboard
Rise, a plush toy designed by 8-year-old Lucas Ye, which served as their zero-gravity indicator accompanied the astronauts on the historic mission. When the toy started floating, the crew knew they’d reached weightlessness.
Wiseman explained that Rise was custom-made at NASA’s Goddard center, complete with a flame-retardant exterior and stuffing because, as he put it, “we have to worry about fire in space.” The little mascot even had a pocket for a memory card, turning it into a sentimental keepsake for the journey.
Now that they’re back on Earth, the astronauts are taking time to decompress. Glover, who turned 50 the day after the White House visit, said he’s focusing on processing the mission and spending time with his family. “I have a lot to process from those 10 days still, so I’m gonna focus on doing a little bit of that,” he said. “I want to spend time with my family and my friends, my loved ones.”
The Artemis II mission was always meant to be more than just a test flight. It was a statement, a proof of concept for NASA’s long-term goal of establishing a sustainable human presence on the moon. The crew’s journey around the moon set the stage for Artemis IV, which aims to land astronauts near the lunar South Pole in 2028. That mission will be a critical step toward NASA’s broader ambitions, including eventual crewed missions to Mars.
Trump also spoke about the UFO files
Back at the White House, the press conference took another unexpected turn when the president brought up UFO files. “I think some of it is going to be very interesting to people,” he said, hinting that government documents on unidentified aerial phenomena would be released soon. He even claimed to have “interviewed people” who saw “things you wouldn’t believe.”
The president also threw out an ambitious prediction: there’s a “good shot” another person could walk on the moon during his potential second term. “We don’t like to say definitely, because then you say, ‘Oh, we failed,’” he added. “So we have a good shot. We’ve authorized it.” It’s a bold claim, especially since NASA’s timeline for Artemis III has already faced delays.
For the astronauts, the mission was about more than just science or politics. It was about inspiring people, as Glover put it, and showing the world what’s possible when humanity reaches for the stars. Koch summed it up best when she talked about gratitude not just for the teams that made the mission possible, but for the chance to share that “beautiful world we all share” with the rest of us.
(Featured Image: The White House)
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