Elon Musk shares video of Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore thanking him and Trump: ‘Utmost respect’

Elon Musk has taken to X to share an old video showing stranded NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore expressing gratitude to him and President Donald Trump. The two astronauts are finally returning to Earth after spending almost nine months in space.

In the 25-second clip Musk shared, Williams says, “We are coming back before long so don’t make those plans without me. We’ll be back before too long.”

Wilmore can be heard saying, “All of us have the utmost respect for Mr. Musk, and obviously, respect and admiration for our president of the United States, Donald Trump. We appreciate them. We appreciate all that they do for us, for human space flight, for our nation.”

Trump and Musk previously claimed that Wilmore and Williams were “abandoned” at the International Space Station (ISS) for “political reasons,” and alleged that the previous Biden administration was “going to leave them in space.”

Butch Wilmore says he believes Joe Biden rejected Elon Musk’s offer to bring him and Sunita Williams home

Earlier this month, Wilmore said he believes Musk’s claim that the Biden administration rejected the SpaceX CEO’s offer to bring him and Williams home. During an in-orbit press conference, Wilmore appeared to shift his stance after previously denying that politics had anything to do with delaying their return. Answering a question about Musk’s claim that Joe Biden had intentionally stalled their rescue, Wilmore said, “I can only say that Mr. Musk, what he says, is absolutely factual … I believe him.”

Now, the replacement crew is set to take charge of the ISS while Wilmore and Williams depart, alongside NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. NASA has confirmed that they will splash down in the ocean off Florida’s coast at approximately 5:57 pm Florida time on March 18 (3:27 AM IST, March 19).