U.S. President Donald Trump makes an announcement regarding the Golden Dome missile defense shield next to U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 20, 2025.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
President Donald Trump rolled out plans for a multibillion dollar ‘Golden Dome’ missile defense shield system Tuesday, and said that he anticipated it could be operational in roughly three years.
“Once fully constructed, 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, and we will have the best system ever built,” Trump said in the Oval Office alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
“We have officially selected an architecture for this state-of-the-art system that will deploy next generation technologies across the land, sea and space, including space-based sensors and interceptors,” said the president.
U.S. Space Force Gen. Michael Guetlein, the vice chief of space operations, will oversee the massive undertaking.
Trump estimated that the project will cost roughly $175 billion, and said an initial $25 billion has already been carved out in next year’s defense funding package.
Trump hailed the endeavor as “very important for the success and even survival of our country.”
“It’s an evil world out there,” he said.
Trump also said that Canada has “called” and wants “to be a part of it.”
For months, the president has said that he wants to create a missile defense shield system for the United States that is akin to Israel’s Iron Dome.
Speaking before Congress in March, Trump urged Congress “to fund a state-of-the-art Golden Dome shield to protect our homeland.”
He also signed an executive order in January, days after taking office, ordering the creation of “The Iron Dome of America.”
While Trump remains optimistic that the massive undertaking will be completed before he leaves office, analysts have raised doubts about whether a project of such scale can be created for the United States, a country more than 400 times larger than Israel.
