President Trump reached out to the crew of the Artemis II spacecraft Monday night, but ended up having a call that was so awkward it quickly went viral.
“America is a frontier nation, and the four brave astronauts of Artemis II are a modern-day, you really are modern-day pioneers, all of you,” Trump said, starting out with a congratulatory message. But then, he made things weird for one crew member.
“And one of them happens to be a neighbor, you know who that is, right? You have a special person over there, a neighbor, and uh, we like our neighbor,” Trump continued.
Trump forgets to respond when talking to the Artemis II crew, resulting in a long, awkward silence pic.twitter.com/0Ye9G42xUi
— Headquarters (@HQNewsNow) April 7, 2026
The “neighbor” in question happened to be Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, a member of the Canadian Space Agency. Trump can’t seem to be able to hide his feelings about the country, which he has antagonized by saying it should be the fifty-first U.S. state. Perhaps that’s why he couldn’t even bring himself to say the word “Canada,” even with a large Canadian flag clearly visible in the video feed from the crew alongside an American flag.
Trump said he spoke to Canadian ice hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, whom he called a “very special person,” and Prime Minister Mark Carney, and only then did he even say “Canada,” claiming to have many friends there.
“You have a lot of courage doing what you do, a lot of bravery, and a lot of genius. But they are very, very proud of you,” Trump said.
But after that, Trump went silent and the astronauts sat awkwardly during more than a full moment of silence.
“Yeah, I think we might have gotten cut off. It is a long distance.… Reception has been great,” the president said.
In the midst of an unnecessary war, a poor economy, and high gas prices, people around the world are looking at the Artemis II mission, which has brought humans further in space than ever before, as a source of inspiration. Does Trump see it that way, as well?