Jared Isaacman, the billionaire entrepreneur and commercial astronaut who had his nomination to lead NASA revoked by President Donald Trump, is claiming that the decision was retribution for his ties to Elon Musk, despite the administration pointing to his recent donations to Democrats as the reason for his departure.
Public donation records revealed that Isaacman, who has “worked alongside” Elon Musk at SpaceX, where he led private space flights missions, made a $100,000 contribution to the Democrat Senate Majority PAC in late 2021.
The businessman, who is the founder and CEO of payment processor Shift4 Payments, also gave $50,000 to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and thousands to other Democrats, including Sens. Bob Casey (D-PA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Jon Tester (D-MT), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), and Rep. George Whitesides (D-CA).
Isaacman also contributed to organizations including the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) and the Pennsylvania Democratic Party.
His latest donation available on record was $10,000 to the Michigan Democratic State Central Committee — just three months before the 2024 election.
In a May 31 post on his media platform, Truth Social, Trump wrote, “After a thorough review of prior associations, I am hereby withdrawing the nomination of Jared Isaacman to head NASA. I will soon announce a new Nominee who will be Mission aligned, and put America First in Space. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Speaking Wednesday on the “All In” podcast, Isaacman said he had become a “good, visible target” for “some people” within the White House who “had some axes to grind,” as Musk continued his public feud with the president over the Republicans’ reconciliation bill.
“I’m not going to play dumb on this,” he said. “I don’t think timing was much of a coincidence…There were other changes going on the same day.”
Isaacman also claimed to the podcast hosts that he actually is a right-leaning political moderate.
“I don’t blame an influential adviser coming in and saying, ‘Look, here’s the facts, and I think we should kill this guy,’” he added. “And the President’s got to make a call and move on.”
Speaking with Breitbart News, a senior Trump administration official simply said, “We don’t confirm Schumer donors in this administration.”
“Jared Isaacman should have never been picked. Trump did the right thing by pulling him,” the official added.
White House officials also told CBS News’s Jennifer Jacobs that the administration is not pushing out the over 100 personnel recommended by Musk over his spat with the president:
“If any DOGE aides have left/plan to leave after yesterday’s public blowup, White House has not received any official resignations, multiple officials said,” Jacobs reported. “Nomination for head of Office of Personnel Management, Scott Kupor, a pick supported by Musk, isn’t being pulled, I’m told.”
Olivia Rondeau is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in Washington, DC. Find her on X/Twitter and Instagram.
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