President Trump on Tuesday announced that his ambitious, multibillion-dollar Golden Dome missile defense shield would only cost $175 billion to build and be “fully operational” in less than three years, defying earlier predictions for its price tag and timeline to field.
Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump said the U.S. had officially selected the architecture for Golden Dome, an effort which will be led by Vice Chief of Space Operations Space Force Gen. Michael Guetlein.
The president also declared it would cost just $175 billion, far below previous estimates to develop, build and field the technology needed for system. In addition, he said it would be completed before his second term ends, in “two and a half to three years,” an astounding pace.
“This design for the Golden Dome will integrate with our existing defense capabilities and should be fully operational before the end of my term. So we’ll have it done in about three years,” Trump said. “Once fully constructed, Golden Dome will be capable of intercepting missiles even if they are launched from other sides of the world, and even if they are launched from space, and we will have the best system ever built.”
Trump added that Canada will be included in the effort.
“Canada has called us and they want to be a part of it. So we’ll be talking to them, they want to have protection also,” he said.
Trump announced the new details of the project while seated at the Resolute Desk with posters on either side of him. One depicted the continental U.S. in gold with a literal Golden Dome surrounding the country and warding off incoming missiles while the other showed a similar image with his quote stating, “This is a Very Dangerous World. We’re going to protect our citizens like never before!”
He was accompanied by Guetlein, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and GOP Sens. Dan Sullivan (Alaska), Jim Banks (Indiana), and Kevin Kramer (N.D.), the latter three hailing from states that historically have played a part in missile defense.
Golden Dome, first ordered by Trump in January, is poised to receive $25 billion to jump-start the purported missile defense system that would create a network of satellites to detect, track and potentially intercept incoming ballistic missiles.
But that initial $25 billion, part of the GOP’s reconciliation bill, remains uncertain as hard-line GOP conservatives and moderate Republicans on Tuesday continued to hold out on allowing the House to pass the legislation, demanding certain changes be made.
Furthermore, $25 billion is just the tip of the iceberg in funding the system, which is estimated to cost the U.S. more than $500 billion over 20 years to develop, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
The program’s high price tag and advanced technology — much of which has yet to be developed or fielded — has already drawn political scrutiny and questions as to how it will be funded moving forward.
What’s more, Democratic lawmakers have raised concerns around the possibility that billionaire and Trump advisor Elon Musk could receive Golden Dome contracts via his company SpaceX, an outcome that would appear to be a conflict of interest given his role in the Trump administration.
Asked which companies would be involved in the system’s creation, Trump responded that Alaska, Florida, Georgia and Indiana will be a part of the project. Alaska currently houses ground-based interceptors located at Fort Greely and is close to Russia, China and North Korea; Florida is home to several military installations involved in missile testing and development, including the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station; Georgia has several significant Army and Air Force bases; and Indiana produces space satellites at L3Harris Technologies.
To reach Trump’s ambitious three-year timeline and $175 billion pricetag to build out Golden Dome, it’s likely that many early systems involved would come from existing production lines. Banks mentioned L3Harris, while Sullivan said Lockheed Martin and Raytheon were potential contractors.
Trump also repeatedly said the system will be entirely made in the U.S.
Trump’s inspiration for Golden Dome stems from Israel’s Iron Dome, a system the small country uses to shoot down short-range rockets and artillery fired from up to 43 miles away.
“We don’t have a dome ourselves. We’re going to have the greatest dome ever,” Trump said in December 2023 while on the campaign trail, later saying he would “build an Iron Dome over our country.”
But Trump’s Golden Dome would need a far more extensive system as Washington’s potential threats don’t come from short-range missiles, instead coming from intercontinental ballistic missiles fired from countries such as Russia, China, Iran or North Korea.
A system to protect against those threats would require a massive number of surveillance satellites and attack satellites to detect and shoot down incoming missiles — 400 to more than 1,000 satellites, Reuters previously reported.
The system also has been criticized as unnecessary, as the U.S. already protects itself from any potential incoming long-range missiles via radars and ground-based interceptors located at Fort Greely in Alaska and Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
Shorter-range missiles would be taken care of by such systems as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, which was deployed to defend Hawaii when North Korea ramped up its missile testing several years ago.
The skies above Washington, D.C., meanwhile, are protected by NASAMS, a short- to medium-range, ground-based air defense system.
But when asked whether military commanders had requested the system, Trump said he “suggested it, and they all said, ‘We love the idea, sir.’”
“This is very important for the success and even survival of our country,” Trump said in his opening remarks. “It’s a very evil world out there.”
Updated at 6:01 p.m. EDT