Trump makes bold promise to make US 'first nation to plant flag on Mars'

Donald Trump has pledged the United States will be the first country to put an astronaut on Mars during his address to the Republican National Convention (RNC).

The President also claimed America would be the first country to put a female astronaut on the Moon. NASA hopes to return humans to the Moon in 2024 but this timetable has been challenged by some experts.

Mr Trump was addressing the RNC conference to receive the party’s official presidential nomination for 2020, according to the Daily Express.

The President will face Democratic Party challenger Joe Biden in the election on November 3.

Speaking to around a thousand supporters the president said: “We will launch a new age of American Ambition in space.

“America will land the first woman on the moon – and the United States will be the first nation to plant its flag on Mars.”