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President Donald Trump has chosen a concept plan for his “Golden Dome” missile defense system that he says would cost $175 billion — but that other government officials say could cost over $800 billion in the next 20 years.
The president said in remarks in the Oval Office that the system, inspired by Israel’s Iron Dome, would be “fully operational before the end of my term” in 2029. Behind the president were two large posters depicting an illustration of a science fiction-esque golden dome over the U.S.
Experts have said that, not only is the timeline impossible, but the entire project is nearly completely unfeasible, with an absurd price tag. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the deployment and operation of the project could cost as much as $831 billion over the next 20 years, or as little as $161 billion.
The project would publicly put U.S. weapons into space for the first time. In a January executive order directing the Pentagon to research the project, Trump cited vague threats of missiles and “advanced aerial attacks” as “the most catastrophic threat facing the United States.”
The project is inspired by Israel’s Iron Dome, which exists in large part due to the Israeli military’s near-constant aggression toward Israel’s neighboring countries and subjugation of Palestinians. The Iron Dome is capable only of intercepting short range missiles, and operates by shooting them down with missiles.
Previous attempts to develop technology to intercept the types of intercontinental missiles Trump is referring to have failed. Further, some analysts say it’s unlikely that countries like China or Russia would attack the U.S. directly at all, making the system a nearly completely redundant expense.
But the price tag is, perhaps, the point. Trump — who has close ties to numerous owners of major defense contractors — has backed a record-breaking $1 trillion annual defense budget. This would represent a major boon for military contractors, who receive roughly half of the Pentagon’s massive budget each year.
Defense Contractors are already boosting the idea. In an interview with Fox on Wednesday, Lockheed Martin CEO James Taiclet boasted that the dome would create jobs domestically, while also trying to sell Lockheed Martin as a company that could play a major role in its creation.
Among benefactors of the project could be Elon Musk, who has played a major role in Trump’s government-gutting spree after spending more than $250 million on Trump’s reelection; and Peter Thiel, a major backer of Vice President J.D. Vance, credited for Vance’s rise in politics.
Musk’s SpaceX and Thiel’s Palantir are reportedly frontrunners to win a contract to build a major part of the Golden Dome, Reuters reported last month.
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