In announcing his decision to withdraw the nomination of Jared Isaacman, a billionaire entrepreneur, to run NASA on Saturday, President Donald Trump cited a review of his “prior associations,” a veiled reference to donations Isaacman had made to Democrats.

But those donations were old news. While Trump privately told advisers in recent days that he was surprised to learn of Isaacman’s contributions and that he had not been told of them previously, he and his team were briefed about them during the presidential transition in late 2024, before Isaacman’s nomination, according to two people with knowledge of the events.

One of those people said Isaacman, who had been approved by a Senate committee and was headed to a confirmation vote this week, directly told Trump about those donations

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