Elon Musk claimed that the two US astronauts, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, were left stranded at the International Space Station (ISS) by the former US President Joe Biden administration. 

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Trump, while speaking at an exclusive interview with Fox News, said Joe Biden was going to leave stranded NASA astronauts, including Williams, in space, to which Musk quickly added that the reason was "political". 

“At the President’s request, or instruction, we are accelerating the return of the astronauts, which was postponed, kind of, to a ridiculous degree," Elon Musk said on being asked about the return of the two astronauts.

“They got left in space," Trump added to Musk. 

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Musk further said, "They were left up there for political reasons, which is not good."

When asked about SpaceX's mission to bring back Williams and Wilmore, Musk said, "We don’t want to be complacent, but we have brought astronauts back from the space station many times before, and always with success." 

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“I think it’s about – about four weeks to bring them back," he added, upon being questioned about the timeline of the mission to bring them back.

“You now have the go-ahead," Trump said, to which Musk responded, “Yes. Well, thanks to you." 

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The US president further claimed that Musk's company did not have the go-ahead with the Biden administration. 

“He (Biden) was going to leave him in space. I think he was going to leave them in space, can you believe it?" Trump said. 

Astronauts say 'not abandoned'

The two astronauts, Sunita Williams and Butch Willmore, have been stranded in low-Earth orbit since June. 

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In January, slamming Joe Biden, Trump and Musk claimed that the two astronauts were left high and dry by the previous administration. To which the astronauts said that they “were not stranded, nor have been abandoned" at the ISS.

“That’s been the rhetoric. That’s been the narrative from day one: stranded, abandoned, stuck—and I get it. We both get it," Wilmore said.

“But that is, again, not what our human spaceflight programme is about. We don’t feel abandoned, we don’t feel stuck, we don’t feel stranded."

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Wilmore added a request: “If you’ll help us change the rhetoric, help us change the narrative. Let’s change it to ‘prepared and committed.’ That’s what we prefer," Wilmore said.

(With inputs from agencies)