Commander Jared Isaacman of Polaris Dawn, a private human spaceflight mission, speaks during a press conference at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, United States, August 19, 2024.
Joe Skipper | Reuters
President Donald Trump met with Jared Isaacman to discuss another nomination to lead NASA, a source familiar with the discussions confirmed to CNBC’s Morgan Brennan.
Isaacman, who has close ties to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, was at the White House in September for Trump’s dinner for tech power players. Musk was not present.
After a heated exchange between Musk and Trump over government spending, the president withdrew Isaacman’s nomination for the position, saying he was a “blue-blooded Democrat, who had never contributed to a Republican before.”
“I also found it inappropriate that a very close friend of Elon’s, who worked in the space industry, would run NASA, when NASA plays such an important role in Elon’s business life,” Trump wrote in a June 6 Truth Social article.
Trump named Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy as acting head of NASA in July.
Isaacman, who declined to comment, was initially named to lead the space agency in December.
Bloomberg was the first to report on the meetings between Isaacman and Trump.
