Trump announces $175 billion Golden Dome missile defense system

President Donald Trump has announced that the United States will begin construction of a new national missile defense system known as the “Golden Dome,” modeled after Israel’s Iron Dome.

Trump announced the initiative to reporters in the Oval Office, explaining that it will receive $25 billion in initial funding through the upcoming congressional budget bill and is expected to cost a total of $175 billion. He added that a major phase of the system will be completed within three years and that the Golden Dome will be fully operational before the end of his term.

"In the campaign, I promised the American people that I would build a cutting-edge missile defense shield to protect our homeland from the threat of foreign missile attack. And that's what we're doing today," the president said.

Trump emphasized the broad support for the project within Congress, saying, “It's amazing how easy this one is to fund."

The Golden Dome will reportedly be capable of intercepting missiles launched from anywhere in the world, including those fired from space. Trump has appointed Space Force General Michael Guetlein to oversee the project.

"We owe it to our children and our children's children to protect them and afford them a quality of life that we have all grown up enjoying. Golden Dome will afford that," said Guetlein.

Guetlein warned that US adversaries are aggressively modernizing their arsenals, saying, "While we have been focused on keeping the peace overseas, our adversaries have been quickly modernizing their nuclear forces, building up ballistic missiles capable of hosting multiple warheads, building out hypersonic missiles capable of attacking the United States within an hour and traveling at 6,000 miles an hour, building cruise missiles that can navigate around our radar and our defenses, building submarines that can sneak up on our shores and, worse yet, building space weapons.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth praised the Golden Dome as a “bold initiative” and said it is essential in light of growing threats from countries such as China and Russia.

"Ultimately, this right here, the Golden Dome for America, is a game changer," Hegseth said. "It's a generational investment in the security of America and Americans."