One of Elon Musk's closest allies was poised to become the next head of NASA until, at what seemed like the last minute, President Donald Trump withdrew the person's nomination.

According to the Daily Mail, Trump pulled billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman's nomination to lead the space agency over his reported past donations to Democrats.

However, some of Trump's closest supporters are running with the theory that the president might have been "set up" to make the call to pull Isaacman's nomination by influential D.C. players who aren't the biggest fans of Elon Musk.

Many have suggested that forces behind the scenes are working overtime to force a wedge between Trump and Musk ahead of the 2026 midterms, where Musk could play another massively influential role in getting Republicans wins across the country,

What's going on?

President Trump announced his decision to pull the nomination in a Truth Social post, sending shockwaves throughout the Hill, given that Isaacman's confirmation vote was coming within a few days.

"After a thorough review of prior associations, I am hereby withdrawing the nomination of Jared Isaacman to head NASA," Trump wrote in a post Saturday night. "I will soon announce a new Nominee who will be Mission aligned, and put America First in Space."

White House spokeswoman Elizabeth Huston released a statement to CBS News to explain the decision in further detail, saying the next NASA administrator will "help lead humanity into space and execute President Trump's bold mission of planting the American flag on the planet Mars."

She added, "It's essential that the next leader of NASA is in complete alignment with President Trump's America First agenda and a replacement will be announced directly by President Trump soon."

NEWS: Jared Isaacman, President Trump's pick to be the new head of NASA, has been told by the White House that his nomination will be rescinded.

This sucks. I can’t think of a better person for the job than Jared. pic.twitter.com/bLoe0yuBYw

— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) May 31, 2025

The White House did not provide an official explantion as to why it pulled Isaacman's nomination.

Social media reacts

Many were upset that his nomination was pulled. Users across social media offered mixed reactions to the news.

"Yeah. Massive loss for America, space exploration and the future of NASA if he doesn't get confirmed," one X user wrote.

The same X user wrote in another post, "No specific reason was given in the article, but sounds like it could be Jared’s previous ties to SpaceX/Elon."

Only time will tell who Trump will select to head up the space agency, especially in an age when private space flight is starting to become normal.