Trump Tries to Goad Artemis II Astronauts Into Bashing NATO With Him

The crew of NASA’s Artemis II visited the White House Wednesday to celebrate their successful mission around the moon, but they ended up roped into one of the president’s diatribes against NATO.

The astronauts were visibly uncomfortable flanking Donald Trump behind the Resolute Desk as he tossed questions their way regarding the country’s participation in the strategic alliance.

“What do you think of that, Jared? Sending help after we win the war?” Trump said, turning to address NASA administrator Jared Isaacman (Isaacman is the third administrator of the agency since January 2025).

Trump then looked behind him, waving his open hand at the astronauts.

“I don’t want to get you guys involved, but I can imagine what you’re thinking,” Trump chortled.

But no one at the desk was laughing with him. Instead, the astronauts looked pained:  grimacing, pursing their lips, and turning away from the president as he continued to take questions from reporters.

the Artemis II crew looks mortified as Trump turns to them while he's attacking NATO pic.twitter.com/Qyiivdw2MR

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 29, 2026

Trump has long criticized America’s membership in the international military alliance. He regularly baselessly insists that other members have failed to pay their dues and argues that the U.S. has been shortchanged by other NATO countries, even though that’s not how the alliance operates.

The Cold War–era organization has “no ledger that maintains accounts of what countries pay and owe,” according to former Obama staffer Aaron O’Connell, who explained to NPR in 2018 that “NATO is not like a club with annual membership fees.”

Nonetheless, Trump has continued to verbally attack America’s closest allies, accusing NATO members of being “cowards” and “terrible” for refusing to assist in his blockade of Iran’s Strait of Hormuz. 

On Tuesday, King Charles of Britain spoke before a joint session of the U.S. Congress, compelling the American people—and their representatives—to support the NATO alliance. In doing so, the king reminded the country that there has only ever been one time in history when NATO’s Article 5 has been invoked: the global mobilization to support America in its military offensive against Afghanistan after 9/11.

Despite the king’s heavy messaging, Trump told reporters Wednesday that he “loved the speech,” though he specified that his opinion on NATO—and America’s potential withdrawal—was unchanged by the royal’s remarks.

It is unclear who in the Western world benefits from the dissolution of NATO. John Bolton, Trump’s first-term national security adviser and a policy hawk who also served under Ronald Reagan’s administration, has said that the consequences of exiting the alliance could be dire. America’s withdrawal from the pact could effectively be the death of NATO, leaving behind a fractured and significantly weakened European alliance, while devastating America’s international credibility as an ally.