NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams expressed their gratitude to President Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk during their first interview since being rescued following a nine-month ordeal aboard the International Space Station.

Originally scheduled for a week-long mission, the two were stranded after a malfunction with their Boeing Starliner. They were finally brought home by a SpaceX crew on March 18. Speaking on America’s Newsroom with Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer on Monday, the astronauts reflected on their experience.

Hemmer noted that both Musk and President Trump had prioritized the rescue effort—an operation Musk had offered to carry out last year, but which was reportedly blocked by the Biden administration. He then asked the astronauts, “What would you like to say to President Trump and Elon Musk?”

“I respect you. I trust you. You’ve given me no reason not to trust you, either one of them. What they say, I can’t say what they say. I haven’t lived that. But I have no reason not to believe anything they say because they’ve earned my trust,” Wilmore said.

“And for that, I am grateful that our national leaders actually are coming in and taking part in our human spaceflight program, which we see is hugely important global significance and they take an active role and based on the past and what we see now with them doing that it’s refreshing – not just refreshing – it’s empowering,” he added.

“It’s strengthening for our nation. I think it’s a good thing for our nation when the national leaders, especially something that’s high visibility, are involved in the process, and I’m grateful for that,” he added.

One of the astronauts who was stranded in space for nearly nine months says President Trump and @elonmusk have "earned his trust," adding their leadership has been "strengthening for our nation." | @BillHemmer @AmericaNewsroom pic.twitter.com/5CmHRzzHKw

— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 31, 2025

Williams expressed her gratitude for Trump and Musk prioritizing their safe return to Earth.

“I’m just glad that they’re involved and they take notice. And, our situation, I think I mentioned before, maybe wasn’t the perfect situation, but allowed a lot of people, including the President and Elon, to look at what’s going on on the International Space Station, take it very seriously and understand that our involvement as a country, as a spacefaring nation, is really important throughout the world,” she said.

“And it sets an example and it shows, you know, our ability to be able to do the hard things, put people in space, operate in space work in space and then bring us back. It’s important and I appreciate that them and many, many, many more people took notice of it,” she added.