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President Trump made good on another campaign promise on Monday by ordering the Pentagon to expand missile defense systems in the United States in an “Iron Dome” project, acknowledging its future role as an integral form of protection for the American people.
“The threat of attack by ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles, and other advanced aerial attacks, remains the most catastrophic threat facing the United States,” the order read.
The order acknowledged President Ronald Reagan’s efforts to build an American defense against nuclear attacks, but noted that it was canceled before project completion.
President Trump’s order will mobilize the secretary of defense to submit a plan for this iron dome and the implementation of it within the next 60 days.
Interestingly, the order additionally called for the inclusion of space-based missile interceptors, suggesting that the U.S. Space Force may be robustly involved in the construction of the shield.
In 2023, President Trump said that Space Force would play a “vital role” in securing the United States against missile and nuclear attacks.
Building an “Iron Dome” for America like Israel’s famed missile defense system has long been a goal of President Trump’s. He has often warned about the dangers of hypersonic missiles, noting two years ago that they were “six times faster” than other missiles.
“We must be able to defend our homeland, our allies, and our military assets around the world from the threat of hypersonic missiles no matter where they are launched from,” he said in a 2023 policy video.
The president’s executive order to build an American missile defense shield coincided on Monday with a second military-related order to reinstate servicemembers who were unjustly discharged from their post due to the Biden administration’s Covid vaccine mandate in 2021.
“The vaccine mandate was an unfair, overbroad, and completely unnecessary burden on our service members,” the president’s order stated.
Newly minted Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will be responsible for overseeing the implementation of President Trump’s recent military executive orders over the next 60 days.
