In a surprising turn of events, President Donald Trump has once again put forward Jared Isaacman as his choice to head NASA, following a tense situation at the White House. The decision marks a reversal after Isaacman’s initial nomination was withdrawn.

Isaacman, a 42-year-old billionaire and tech entrepreneur, was first selected by Trump to lead the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in December 2024. However, the nomination was unexpectedly pulled back by the White House in late May.

Known for his close ties to Elon Musk, Isaacman found himself caught in a political crossfire. This stemmed from a summer feud between Musk and Trump, during which the Tesla CEO accused the president of being linked to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

The discord led Sergio Gor, the former head of the White House Personnel Office responsible for Isaacman’s nomination, to withdraw the offer. Gor’s decision seemed influenced by Musk’s criticisms of Trump.

“Sergio targeted Jared as a way to retaliate against Elon,” a source revealed to the Daily Mail. “It was never about Jared or his qualifications.”

The insider further explained, “Sergio wanted to negatively impact Elon, and removing Jared from NASA was seen as the most effective way to do so.”

Since then, Gor has become the US Ambassador to India, and longtime Trump aide Dan Scavino has taken over the personnel office. A representative for Gor did not immediately respond to the Daily Mail’s request for comment. 

And recently, some of Isaacman’s supporters reemerged to back the billionaire’s renewed bid to lead NASA. 

Billionaire tech entrepreneur and astronaut Jared Isaacman was renominated by Trump to lead NASA after the White House pulled his nomination earlier this year amid a fued with Elon Musk, who supported Isaacman’s confirmation 

White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles (C) reportedly told Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to ‘knock it off’ after he made attempts to become NASA’s permanent boss 

Critical White House players like chief of staff Susie Wiles and Vice President JD Vance recently expressed support for Isaacman to lead NASA.

Currently, the top official at NASA is Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who has served as the interim boss since July. 

It was widely reported that Duffy was positioning himself to keep the dual mandate and that he wanted Trump to give him leadership over NASA on a permanent basis.  

However, Wiles in recent days made a ‘stern but friendly call to Duffy’ telling him to ‘knock it off,’ a source told Axios. 

Wiles and Vance were among those who supported reinstating Isaacman’s nomination, a source familiar with the matter told the Daily Mail.  

Before his initial launch was canceled due to the stormy relationship between Musk and Trump, Isaacman had wide bipartisan support for his nomination, which must be confirmed by the Senate. 

The 42-year-old tech entrepreneur and astronaut had the support of around 80 senators before having his nomination rescinded in May, the source close to Isaacman revealed to the Daily Mail. 

Still, the two-time NASA boss nominee took the rejection in stride and reportedly stayed connected to the president’s team. 

Elon Musk, who recommended Isaacman to Trump, got into a messy fight with the president in June, where he accused the Republican of appearing in the unreleased Epstein files. The leader of Trump’s personnel office at the time, Sergio Gor, pulled Isaacman’s nomination soon after 

Sergio Gor, former director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office 

According to Axios, Isaacman gave $1 million to Trump’s fundraising operations within months of having his nomination pulled. 

He never mentioned the NASA job when dishing out the dough, according to the outlet. 

Now that the Senate confirmation process is starting over again, the support for Isaacman should still be there, the source close to the NASA nominee told the Daily Mail. 

‘There’s an existing amount of enormous support for Jared, and I expect to see that again once the process really starts.’