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Trump Participates in a Greeting with Artemis II Astronauts, Apr. 29, 2026

April 29, 2026 · The White House · 0:22:36

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

President Donald Trump welcomed the Artemis II astronauts to the Oval Office on April 29, 2026. “We have some people that have captivated the attention of the whole world, not just our country, the whole world. And they’re very brave,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything. Everybody I knew, they wanted to see the launch and they especially wanted to see a successful landing.” He congratulated NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman — “I made a great choice” — and took questions alongside the crew and their families.

On the Moon program, Isaacman stated the plan as it stands: Artemis II has flown around the Moon; Artemis III launches in 2027; and NASA will “protect for two opportunities in 2028 to return astronauts to the surface of the Moon.” The President said the United States has “a good shot” at a landing in his second term and that “we’re ahead of schedule.” On other subjects, he said the administration will be releasing UFO-related material “in the near future” — “we’re going to be releasing a lot of things… and I think some of it’s going to be very interesting to people” — and said he had spoken with President Putin that day mainly about Ukraine, with a little about Iran, suggesting “a little bit of a ceasefire” that Putin “might do.”

Why it matters

The Oval Office greeting is the ceremonial close of the Artemis II mission in this chronicle and the dated statement of the lunar timeline the administration is running against — a 2027 Artemis III and two protected 2028 landing opportunities, as stated by NASA’s administrator in the President’s presence. It sits on the Foreign Policy & Defense hub alongside the August 2026 Artemis II medal ceremony.

Scoreboard watch

The Artemis timeline (Artemis III in 2027; two surface opportunities protected in 2028) and the promised near-future release of UFO-related material are recorded as stated at the greeting, tracked against NASA’s schedule and the release itself.

Sources: The White House, “President Trump Participates in a Greeting with Artemis II Astronauts,” The White House, April 29, 2026 (official upload, embedded above). All figures and characterizations as stated by the President and by NASA Administrator Isaacman at the greeting.