On Tuesday, Trump told reporters the Golden Dome project will finish in three years and cost $175 billion. However, the Congressional Budget Office says just running the space interceptors could cost between $161 billion and $542 billion over 20 years. Getty Images
President Donald Trump announced a big plan on Tuesday. It’s called the Golden Dome system. The goal is to stop missile threats from China and Russia. This plan will put anti-missile weapons in space for the first time.
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that the project should finish in about three years. He expects it to cost $175 billion in total. To start the work, he asked Congress for $25 billion in funding.
“That’s the initial sort of down, deposit,” Trump said. “And we have, probably, you’re talking about $175 billion total cost when this is completed.”
High Costs and Congressional Estimates
The Congressional Budget Office said the project could cost anywhere between $161 billion and $542 billion over 20 years. This big difference depends on how many satellites with interceptors the US needs. These satellites will shoot down intercontinental ballistic missiles while they are in space.
The number of interceptors depends on how big the threat is from China and Russia. Trump made it clear in January that these two countries are the main focus of the Golden Dome.
How Golden Dome Will Work
The Golden Dome will use several layers of defense. It will combine space and ground-based weapons. Trump first called it an “Iron Dome,” inspired by Israel’s missile defense. Later, he changed the name to Golden Dome.
The system will spot missiles before they launch and try to stop them early. If a missile still launches, the system will try to destroy it while it is flying.
Finally, it can try to catch the missile just before it hits its target.
“It will be capable of intercepting missiles launched from the other side of the world,” Trump said. “Even if they’re launched from space.”
Focus on Space Warfare
Trump highlighted space as a key area for this defense system. He announced General Michael Guetlein of the Space Force will lead the project.
Guetlein said the US must act fast because rivals are building space weapons. Russia has reportedly been working on nuclear space weapons, although details remain unclear.
Guetlein also mentioned China’s hypersonic missiles. These missiles can fly faster than five times the speed of sound. They can enter and leave Earth’s atmosphere, making them very hard to detect or stop.
A Shift in US Missile Defense
The Golden Dome changes how the US thinks about missile defense. In the past, it focused more on threats from countries like North Korea. Now, the main concern is China and Russia, called peer rivals.
The US used to rely mostly on nuclear weapons to deter missile attacks from these big powers. The Golden Dome shows a move toward stopping missiles before they reach US soil.
The Congressional Budget Office warns that defending against China and Russia will need many advanced satellites, which will make the project very expensive.
Trump’s Confidence and Reactions
Trump believes Congress will support the funding. “When we say we’re going to save everyone’s lives in a crazy world, it seems to be very easy to get,” he said.
On the other hand, China and Russia called the Golden Dome a “deeply destabilizing” system. They said on May 8 that it’s an “unconstrained, global and multi-tier missile defense system” that worries them.
