BLUF: The ‘Golden Dome’

Trump 2.0 has been all about gold — the “Golden Age,” the “Gold Card,” and now: the Golden Dome. On Tuesday, the president announced plans for a new national missile defense system and promised it’ll be done by the end of his term in 2029.

The idea takes a page from Israel’s Iron Dome, but on a whole different scale — nearly 450 times bigger — and designed to stop everything from hypersonic missiles to drones. President Trump says it’ll cost $175 billion, but experts told CNN that putting a price on something this massive is basically impossible.

If this all sounds familiar, that’s because it is. The U.S. has been chasing big missile defense dreams since the 1950s with Project Nike, and again in the ’80s with Reagan’s “Star Wars” plan. The usual problems? Too expensive, too complicated, and sometimes a bit too close to violating international treaties like the now-defunct ABM agreement.

Missile tech has come a long way since the '80s — and the ABM Treaty that once limited these systems was scrapped back in 2002 — but the idea is still a hot-button issue. Meanwhile, China didn’t waste time criticizing the Golden Dome, warning it could speed up the militarization of space and shake global stability.

America must set the pace as rivals ramp up their missile stockpiles and capabilities. Continuing to find ways to harness technologies and innovation from private industry is a smart way to do that. But is the Golden Dome the answer? If history shows us anything, that's a question likely to be tested not in years, but decades.

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