President Donald Trump told reporters today that his Golden Dome for America missile defense system will be “up and running” by 2028.
“We have officially selected the architecture for this state of the art system … This design for Golden Dome will incorporate existing defense capabilities and should be operational before the end of my term. We’ll have it done in about three years,” President Trump said during a press conference in the Oval office.
The Golden Dome program was initiated by an executive order from President Trump on January 27, tasking the Department of Defense (DoD) with developing a “next-generation missile defense shield” aimed at countering hypersonic weapons and other advanced threats.
The president also announced today that he has tapped Gen. Michael Guetlein, vice chief of Space Operations, to lead the effort.
President Trump also declared it would cost just $175 billion to build and field the technology needed for system. He touted his $1.01 trillion defense budget for fiscal year (FY) 2026 as the first step forward to building out Golden Dome.
The Trump administration has proposed a $25 billion down payment for the project as part of its $1.01 trillion FY 2026 budget request. Much of this funding is expected to be directed toward developing the space-based systems necessary to bring the Golden Dome vision to life.
The initiative draws parallels to President Ronald Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative – often dubbed the “Star Wars” program – which envisioned a missile defense system using both ground- and space-based technologies, including space-based lasers.
However, Reagan’s plan was ultimately never realized, largely due to its high costs and technical challenges – many of the same criticisms now being directed at Trump’s Golden Dome initiative.