Trump Meets Artemis II Crew

Trump Hosts Artemis II Astronauts at White House Former President Donald Trump met with the four-member crew of the Artemis II lunar flyby mission at the White House on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The meeting, held in the Oval Office, celebrated the astronauts' recent mission, which set a new distance record from Earth.

The Artemis II crew, consisting of commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen, completed a 10-day lunar odyssey earlier this month. Their Orion capsule, named Integrity, achieved a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego on April 10, after traveling 252,756 miles (406,771 km). This distance surpassed the 1970 Apollo 13 record of 248,655 miles.

During the press conference, discussions extended beyond the Artemis II mission. Trump addressed a recent Supreme Court decision regarding Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, stating he was unaware of the ruling until questioned by a reporter. He also commented on U.S. diplomatic engagements with Iran, indicating a shift to telephonic communication, and discussed the conflict in Ukraine, asserting that Ukraine was militarily defeated.