Artemis II launched April 1 from Kennedy Space Center. Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Jeremy Hansen flew more than 250,000 miles, circled the moon, and splashed down in the Pacific off the coast of California on April 10. It was a genuine milestone — the first time humans have been near the lunar surface since Apollo 17 in 1972, more than 50 years ago. It worked. Every system performed. The crew was recovered in excellent condition.
Trump posted on Truth Social: "Congratulations to the Great and Very Talented Crew of Artemis II. I could not be more proud!" He greeted the crew after splashdown. He said "Next step, Mars!" at the event.
He had nothing to do with it. And his administration has done significant damage to the agency that made it happen.
Trump's DOGE cuts hit NASA in the first months of 2025. Science programs were eliminated. Workforce was cut. Earth observation missions were defunded. Artemis III — the mission intended to actually land on the moon's south pole — has been delayed, its goals revised, its future uncertain. NASA is now dependent on commercial partners like SpaceX and Blue Origin for lunar landers that don't yet exist in final form. The agency that spent two years preparing Artemis II is smaller, less funded, and less certain of its future than when those four astronauts started training.
He Claims Every W He Didn't Build
This is the pattern. Artemis II was designed, funded, and built across multiple administrations — with the vast majority of work happening under programs Trump inherited. The Orion capsule. The Space Launch System. The mission design. The crew selection. The training program. None of that was Trump. All of it predates his second term. The mission launched 62 days after his inauguration. He didn't build this. He showed up for the photo.
Meanwhile, the same administration that's claiming credit for Artemis II defunded the James Webb Space Telescope's successor programs, cut climate science missions, eliminated offices dedicated to science communication, and gutted the workforce at Johnson Space Center responsible for astronaut health and mission support. The people who made Artemis II happen are looking at a shrunken agency. The president who cut it is taking a bow.
He cut the agency, claimed the mission, and said "Next step, Mars." There's no plan to Mars. There's barely a plan for Artemis III. But there is a Truth Social post and a handshake with the crew.
What Artemis III Actually Looks Like Now
Artemis III was originally supposed to land astronauts on the moon's south pole. That goal has been revised. The current plan is to test docking between the Orion spacecraft and commercial lunar landers from SpaceX and Blue Origin — vehicles that don't yet exist in final operational form. Artemis III is scheduled for mid-2027 at the earliest, and that timeline is considered optimistic by people inside the program. There is no human Mars mission timeline. NASA said in 2020 that Mars remains a "horizon goal" — possible in the 2030s. There is no mission plan. There is no funding. There is a Truth Social post that says "Next step, Mars!"
Sources
- Newsweek: Trump "I could not be more proud" post; "Next step, Mars!" statement at splashdown event; crew recovery on USS John P. Murtha; Artemis III scheduling and goal revision.
- NPR: Artemis II crew splashdown April 10; 250,000+ miles traveled; first humans near lunar surface since 1972; crew in excellent condition post-splashdown.