In a carefully staged address in the Oval Office of the White House, sitting next to a poster depicting the United States beneath a vast golden dome, US President Donald Trump tried on Tuesday, May 20, to give substance to his grandiose Golden Dome project. This missile defense shield is intended as nothing less than a revival of the abandoned "Star Wars" program launched by former president Ronald Reagan in 1983, but it has generated much skepticism among military experts.

Three months after the project was launched by executive order on January 27, with the expectation that it would operate through space-based weapons systems, Trump announced he was ready to commit $25 billion to kickstart its development. He appointed a supervisor for the program, General Michael Guetlein, the current vice chief of space operations. Trump said the entire system could be operational by 2029, "before the end of my term." He added that the "architecture" is ready, and specified that Canada will be a part of the project.

The president's martial tone did not surprise experts. Trump has long been an unabashed advocate for the weaponization of space, in the name of maintaining US dominance in this domain. However, Tuesday's announcement was, at this stage, a relatively modest step that raised more questions than it answered about the Golden Dome, which is supposed to better protect the United States against the growing threat posed by Chinese, North Korean and Russian ballistic arsenals.

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