--- title: Donald Trump Congratulates Peggy Whitson on NASA Record description: President Donald Trump called Peggy Whitson to congratulate her on becoming the first American astronaut to spend the longest time in space. canonical: https://time.com/4752487/donald-trump-peggy-whitson-iss/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-24T15:21:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T04:34:20.309Z article:section: History og:title: President Trump Jokes With Astronaut Peggy Whitson og:description: During a recent call to the International Space Station og:url: https://time.com/4752487/donald-trump-peggy-whitson-iss/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt65cce1475c897e4c/6988ca65a988ca8ada6bbe51/donald-trump3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Donald Trump,Ivanka Trump og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump Jokes With Astronaut Peggy Whitson twitter:description: During a recent call to the International Space Station twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt65cce1475c897e4c/6988ca65a988ca8ada6bbe51/donald-trump3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Jokes With Astronaut Peggy Whitson on Oval Office Call by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Apr 24, 2017 3:21 PM UTC  Donald Trump, accompanied by his daughter Ivanka Trump, talk via video conference with International Space Station Commander Peggy Whitson in Washington, D.C., on April 24, 2017. Donald Trump, accompanied by his daughter Ivanka Trump, talk via video conference with International Space Station Commander Peggy Whitson in Washington, D.C., on April 24, 2017.Susan Walsh—AP by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Apr 24, 2017 3:21 PM UTC President Donald Trump joked with [astronaut Peggy Whitson](http://fortune.com/2017/04/24/nasa-peggy-whitson-astronaut-most-time-space/) about her having to convert urine into a drinkable solution during a special [call from the Oval Office](http://time.com/4752224/donald-trump-peggy-whitson-call-space-watch-online/) on Monday. “Better you than me,” he told Whitson, who as of Monday had officially clocked [more time in space](http://fortune.com/2017/04/24/nasa-peggy-whitson-astronaut-most-time-space/) than any other American astronaut. President Trump, along with his daughter Ivanka Trump and astronaut Kate Rubins, called Whitson to congratulate her on setting an “incredible record.” He also said how proud he was of the work she and other astronauts do on the [International Space Station](http://time.com/space-nasa-scott-kelly-mission/). The conversation was broadcast live to schools and museums across the United States. The group also chatted about the work astronauts do in space, a typical day in the life of an astronaut on the space station, and the U.S.’s goal of [sending humans to Mars](http://time.com/4492792/mars-mission-space/). While Whitson told Trump she is “absolutely ready to go to Mars,” she noted that the U.S. will likely not be ready to actually send humans to the red planet until around 2030. “The real steps are going to be taken in a few years, so by studying math, science, engineering, and any type of technology you’re going to have a part in that,” Whiston told the young people tuning in. President Trump had joked that he’d like to get astronauts to Mars by the end of his first term. “But, if not, in my second,” he said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4752487/donald-trump-peggy-whitson-iss/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4752487/donald-trump-peggy-whitson-iss/"},"headline":"President Trump Jokes With Astronaut Peggy Whitson on Oval Office Call","datePublished":"2017-04-24T15:21:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:34:20.309Z","description":"He also congratulated her on setting an \"incredible record\"","url":"https://time.com/4752487/donald-trump-peggy-whitson-iss/","keywords":["White House","Space","Donald Trump","onetime","president trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt65cce1475c897e4c/6988ca65a988ca8ada6bbe51/donald-trump3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt65cce1475c897e4c/6988ca65a988ca8ada6bbe51/donald-trump3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump,Ivanka Trump","caption":"Donald Trump,Ivanka Trump","creditText":"Susan Walsh—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4752487/donald-trump-peggy-whitson-iss/","name":"President Trump Jokes With Astronaut Peggy Whitson on Oval Office Call"}}]}] ```