Trump dials into NASA news conference to praise mission

President Donald Trump made an unexpected appearance during a NASA news conference, dialing in via the phone of NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman to congratulate the team on the launch of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. The call occurred during a post-launch briefing at Kennedy Space Center.

Trump, speaking through Isaacman's phone, expressed his congratulations and praised the mission's launch, stating, "Boy, it looked beautiful on television." He also asserted his administration's financial support, saying, "I’m supplying you all that money."

This event follows Trump's recent engagement with NASA, including a visit to Johnson Space Center where he awarded the Artemis II crew the Congressional Space Medal of Honor and announced plans for a United States Space Academy. The telescope is designed to hunt for dark matter and dark energy and features tools to directly view exoplanets.

Trump has not always been supportive of NASA's scientific missions, having proposed budget cuts last year that could have led to the Roman space telescope's cancellation had they not been rejected by Congress.