U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States plans to travel to Mars in the near future, speaking during a Fourth of July celebration in Washington where he honored the crew of NASA’s Artemis II mission.

Axar.az reports, citing the New York Post, that addressing the astronauts on stage, Trump said: “I assume you’re going to be heading to Mars. We’re going to be going to Mars very soon, and I think that’s something that we do have in mind.”

He added: “And we’re going to do the moon, and we’re going to go from there. We’re going to go to Mars, and we’re going to continue to be way ahead.”

Trump also argued that U.S. space leadership had strengthened in recent years, saying: “We were losing to China and to Russia in space, and now we’re leading them by giant steps, and it’s a great thing.”

The remarks came as NASA prepares for future Artemis missions aimed at returning humans to the Moon and eventually enabling crewed missions to Mars.