Washington DC - President Donald Trump touted his own space ambitions on Wednesday during a White House reception for the Artemis II crew, claiming he would have had no trouble becoming a NASA astronaut.

"You have to be very smart. Have to do a lot of things physically good," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "So I would have had no trouble making it, I'm physically very, very good."

Turning to NASA chief Jared Isaacman, who stood behind him, Trump asked whether presidents were even allowed to join space missions, to which Isaacman replied: "We can get working on that, Mr. President."

Earlier, however, Trump praised the Artemis II crew, saying he would not have wanted to take part in such a mission himself. He described astronauts Victor Glover, Christina Koch, Reid Wiseman and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen as "very brave," congratulating them on their journey.

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"I don’t know how they do it," Trump said, noting they had drawn global attention.

Afterward, the 79-year-old answered questions from journalists on other topics for around half an hour, while the crew standing awkwardly behind him was not given a chance to speak.

The four astronauts were the first humans in more than 50 years to travel near the moon. They launched earlier this month from Cape Canaveral in the US state of Florida, flew around the moon and returned to Earth, splashing down in the Pacific near San Diego. During the mission, they reached a greater distance from Earth than any humans before them.

Trump had previously spoken with the crew during their flight in a live call and invited them to the White House following their return.