Donald Trump praises Indian-origin astronaut Anil Menon

President Donald Trump has praised Indian-origin NASA astronaut Anil Menon and two crewmates as “great Americans, great patriots, brave people” during a call to the International Space Station, inviting them to the Oval Office after their return to Earth.

“This is a great honor, to be with you is a great honor and I just want to thank Jessica, Anil, Jack, great Americans, great patriots, brave people,” Trump said during Friday’s call from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

“I wouldn’t do it. I will tell you right now, I hate



to admit it, I would not want to do it, but some people love it more than anything,” he said.

Trump praised the courage of Menon, Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, saying that even their selection for the mission was an achievement.

Menon, a colonel in the US Space Force, told Trump that he was proud to serve in space and spoke about a spacewalk he completed last week.

“Thank you, sir. And I would like to say, as a colonel in the Space Force, that I am very proud to serve in the largest domain imaginable,” Menon said.