The Trump Administration Is Championing the Lunar Program Trump Once Sought to Eliminate

“During President Trump’s first term, the Artemis program was formally established to return humanity to the Moon,” White House assistant press secretary Liz Huston said in a statement. “President Trump is excited about the next phase with the historic upcoming Artemis II launch.” …

But months into his second term, the president submitted a budget wishlist to Congress that would have slashed the program’s funding and eventually eliminated the long-developed rocket program it relies on to ferry humans to the moon.

“The Budget phases out the grossly expensive and delayed Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion capsule after three flights,” Trump’s request reads, noting the $4 billion-per-launch price tag. (Although the Artemis program began during Trump’s first term, the Space Launch System had been in development since 2011.)

The president requested an $879 million cut to the NASA program supporting the Artemis missions.

…
Congress rejected most of the cuts