Trump says Golden Dome missile defense system will be complete before he leaves office

President Trump said his “Golden Dome” missile defense system will be completed before he leaves office in January 2029,  laying an ambitious timetable for an incredibly costly and complex project. 

“We’re building the Golden Dome missile defense shield to protect our homeland and to protect West Point from attack. And it will be completed before I leave office,” Mr. Trump said Saturday during his commencement address at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York.

Earlier this week, Mr. Trump unveiled the concept for the missile defense program that will, for the first time, put U.S. weapons in space. 

The Golden Dome, which is based on an Israeli defense system by the same name, is a multilayered project that will deploy “next generation” technologies across the land, sea and space and will include space-based sensors and interceptors. 

It would include both ground- and space-based capabilities that would defend against missiles by destroying them ahead of launch, intercepting them early in flight, halting them midcourse and stopping them ahead of hitting a target. 

“The 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,” Mr. Trump told reporters on Tuesday. 

The cost of the new initiative, which will involve multiple American defense and technology companies and encompass many programs, has been subject to some debate. Mr. Trump said the project will cost $175 billion and an initial $25 billion for the program was approved by Congress this week as part of the president’s bill cutting taxes and slashing government spending. 

However, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that just the space-based components of the Golden Dome could cost as much as $542 billion over the next 20 years. 

Newly confirmed Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told senators Tuesday that there has been no money allocated for the project because the Golden Dome is “still in the conceptual stage.” 

In a joint statement earlier this month, China and Russia called the Golden Dome idea “deeply destabilizing in nature,” warning it would turn “outer space into an environment for placing weapons and an arena for armed confrontation.”