Trump Praises Indian-Origin Astronaut Menon, Invites ISS Crew to Oval Office

On a Friday afternoon at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, President Donald Trump picked up a phone line to the International Space Station and spoke directly to three astronauts orbiting 250 miles above Earth. Among them was Anil Menon, a colonel in the US Space Force and the son of Indian and Ukrainian immigrants who grew up in Minneapolis. Trump's message was unambiguous: he called them great Americans, great patriots, brave people—and invited them to visit the Oval Office once they returned to solid ground.

Menon, who launched aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft on July 14 alongside cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina, had completed a spacewalk just days before the presidential call. During the conversation, he described the experience with evident pride, explaining that he had maneuvered along the station's robotic arm and witnessed firsthand the engineering that keeps humans alive in the vacuum of space. He told Trump he was honored to serve as a Space Force officer in what he called "the largest domain imaginable." The three-person crew is scheduled to remain on the station for approximately eight months, conducting research and technology demonstrations before returning to Earth in April 2027.

Trump acknowledged the weight of what these astronauts do. "I wouldn't do it," he said plainly. "I will tell you right now, I hate to admit it, I would not want to do it, but some people love it more than anything." He praised not just their courage but the significance of their selection for the mission itself. Jessica Meir, the mission's other NASA astronaut, reported that the crew was in the middle of executing several spacewalks and preparing for another one scheduled for the following week. Jack Hathaway, a graduate of the US Naval Academy, was also on the call.

Menon's wife, Anna, was present at the Johnson Space Center during the call and briefly spoke to the crew in orbit, offering encouragement and affection across the distance. The moment underscored the personal stakes of spaceflight—the families waiting below, the months of separation, the risk.

Beyond the call itself, Trump used the occasion to announce a new institutional priority: the establishment of a US Space Academy, to be placed on equal footing with the nation's military service academies—West Point, the Naval Academy, the Coast Guard Academy, and the Air Force Academy. Trump emphasized that if such an institution were to be created, it would have to meet the same rigorous standards as those schools, which he noted rank among the most selective in the country. He also stressed the strategic importance of space-based intelligence for military operations, framing space as an increasingly critical domain for national security as technology advances.

Menon seized the moment to express enthusiasm about missions beyond low-Earth orbit. He told Trump he was proud and excited about American preparations for journeys to the Moon, the establishment of a lunar base, and eventually Mars. He thanked the president for supporting these efforts. Hathaway, drawing on his Naval Academy background, indicated that the institution would be prepared to support the proposed Space Academy.

As the call wound down, Trump returned to the personal note. He asked the astronauts to return safely and extended an explicit invitation: if they wanted it, they would have time in the Oval Office. "We're going to see you when you get back," he said. "In fact, if you want, Oval Office time, right? So you'll—we'll see you in the Oval Office, OK? Thank you very much. Be safe." It was a small gesture, but one that acknowledged the astronauts not as distant figures but as people whose work the president considered worthy of direct recognition and a seat at the highest table of American power.