Donald Trump recently spoke with NASA’s Artemis II crew, but what caught internet users’ attention was an “awkward silence” moment. The Artemis II mission, launched by NASA on April 1, sent four astronauts on a flyby around the Moon. The distance traveled by the crew is the farthest any human has ever gone from Earth.
Donald Trump calls Artemis II astronauts
The US President recently called the NASA Artemis II crew to congratulate them on their successful flyby around the Moon. However, what the internet noticed in the video going viral on social media was the moment of awkward silence between him and the astronauts.
According to a report by Scientific American, during the call, Donald Trump lauded the crew and said, “Hello to Artemis II. Today, you’ve made history and made all [of] America really proud, incredibly proud. Humans have really never seen anything quite like what you’re doing in a manned spacecraft. It’s really special. There’s nothing like what you’re doing, circling around the moon for the first time in more than a half century and breaking the all-time record for the farthest distance from planet Earth.”
Following this, a brief silence fell as neither Trump nor the crew members spoke. After no one spoke from the other end, a crew member asked for a communication check. Blaming a “nine-second delay” for the silence, the POTUS stated, “Yeah, I think we might have gotten cut off. It is a long distance…reception has been great” (via Newsweek).
Donald Trump then ended the call by stating, “I want to look forward to seeing you in the Oval Office. I’ll ask for your autograph, because I don’t really ask for autographs much, but you deserve that.”
Commenting on the moment, a user on X (formerly Twitter) joked, “Maybe Trump was wondering if he should tell them he’s trying to slash NASA’s budget by 23%.” Another user wrote, “The poor astronauts, professionals at the very highest level, have to do PR with the orange egomaniac.” Moreover, a third user quipped, “This may be the closest that Trump has come to Integrity.”
Originally reported by Ishita Verma on Mandatory.
