Donald Trump Brags He Would Have 'No Trouble' Becoming an Astronaut Because He's in 'Good' Shape

During an Oval Office meeting on Wednesday, April 29, President Donald Trump claimed he would have "no trouble" becoming an astronaut. While honoring the history-making crew of the Artemis II mission, Trump remarked on the intelligence and physical fitness required for space travel, stating, "To get in there, you have to be very smart, have to do a lot of things physically good. So I would have had no trouble making it, I'm physically very, very good.”

He further joked with NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman about whether a sitting president is permitted to join a mission, suggesting they "try it sometime.”

Isaacman played along, responding that the agency could "get working on that.”

Social media wasn’t so kind to the president’s suggestion, with one snapping, “lol. The 200 pounds of flab circumventing his gut disagrees.”

“These astronauts are not only in top physical condition, but they have been trained to withstand the need to show any reaction to insanely ridiculous comments like this by the president. The rest of us would have burst out laughing,” said another.

“He’s so disrespectful to people who’ve dedicated their entire lives training for this. It’s grotesque,” quipped an appalled X commenter.

“The next time I am at Cape Canaveral, which I was at very recently, I will make sure the astronauts know they could be bested by an overweight egomaniac,” snapped another.

The remarks were made during a celebratory event for the four astronauts who completed a record-breaking lunar flyby earlier in the month: Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission Specialist Christina Koch and mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency.

The Artemis II crew reached a maximum distance of 252,756 miles from Earth, surpassing the 56-year-old record held by the Apollo 13 mission.

Physical requirements for space travel, often called the "astronaut physical" or "flight physical," focus on cardiovascular health, vision, and body size.

Key standards include 20/20 vision (correctable), sitting blood pressure and standing height between 62 and 75 inches.

Candidates must pass rigorous, long-duration screenings and withstand intense G-forces during launch.

The 79-year-old’s most recent physical exam reported a weight of 224 pounds (6'3"), with a BMI of 28.0, which classifies him as overweight rather than obese, though still above the healthy range.

His doctor reported him to be in "fully fit" health, with a resting heart rate of 62 bpm and blood pressure of 128/74, despite previous findings of high cholesterol.

Trump’s health has been the subject of several official disclosures and public speculation, appearing in public with visible bruising, swollen ankles and symptoms of cognitive decline described by experts as signs of dementia.