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Donald Trump says US leads the world in space race and will be 'going to Mars very soon'

US President brings out Artemis II crew as he crows about America's out-of-this-world achievements - even though the nation has not put boots back on the Moon for 54 years

[Mars]

US set to go to Mars 'very soon', says Donald Trump(Image: ESA/MPS et al. / SWNS)

Donald Trump said the US is beating the rest of the world in the space race - and will be going to Mars very soon.

The US President brought out the crew of Artemis II - who performed the first flyby of the Moon in 54 years - during his Fourth Of July speech in Washington DC as he crowed about Americas out-of-this-world future. He told astronauts Victor Glover, Christina Koch, Reid Wiseman and Canadian Jeremy Hansen, the US was leading rivals China and Russia by giant steps in space exploration. Trump told them: I assume youre going to be heading to Mars.

Were going to be going to Mars very soon and I think thats something that we do have in mind. And were going to do the Moon and were going to go from there.

[Trump]

Donald Trump says US is winning space race(Image: Getty Images)

Were going to go to Mars and were going to continue to be way ahead.

Some people smiled - they thought it was foolish.

And now theyre finding its one of the most important things that weve done.

We were losing to China and to Russia in space and now were leading them by giant steps.

And its a great thing.

The quartet, who completed their mission on April 10, became the first humans to reach the Moon since the Apollo era after a successful 10-day lunar flyby aboard NASAs Orion spacecraft.

They were joined on stage by Harrison Schmitt, the last living person to have walked on the Moon as part of the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

He is one of just 12 people to have set foot there. Only four are still alive.

NASAs Artemis missions are designed to return astronauts to the Moon and build a base there to pave the way for future human missions to Mars. Trump, who set out to put mankind back on the Moon during his first term in office, watched the Artemis II crews splashdown from his US winery.

Artemis III - planned for next year - will test the Orion spacecrafts ability to dock with SpaceX and Blue Origin lunar landing vehicles in orbit.

That is a critical step before astronauts attempt another Moon landing in Artemis IV in 2028.

SpaceX chief Elon Musk has said he wants to build a self-growing city on the Moon within the next 10 years to save mankind.

He wrote on his social media platform X that he wants to populate Mars too but reckons that could take 20+ years.

[In this handout image provided by NASA, The Artemis II crew (from left) Mission Specialist Christina Koch, Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, Pilot Victor Glover, and Commander Reid Wiseman pause for a group photo inside the Orion spacecraft on their way home. Following a swing around the far side of the Moon on April 6, 2026, the crew exited the lunar sphere of influence (the point at which the Moon's gravity has a stronger pull on Orion than the Earth's) on April 7, and are headed back to Earth for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on April 10. (Photo by NASA via Getty Images)]

The Artemis II crew (left to right) Christina Koch, Jeremy Hansen, Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman(Image: NASA via Getty Images)

The overriding priority is securing the future of civilisation and the Moon is faster, he said.

SpaceX has already shifted focus to building a self-growing city on the Moon, as we can potentially achieve that in less than 10 years, whereas Mars would take 20+ years.

It is only possible to travel to Mars when the planets align every 26 months (six-month trip time), whereas we can launch to the Moon every 10 days (two-day trip time).

This means we can iterate much faster to complete a Moon city than a Mars city.

The mission of SpaceX remains the same: extend consciousness and life as we know it to the stars.

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