Donald Trump submitted yet another executive order straight from the authoritarianism-soaked pages of Project 2025: “The Iron Dome for America.” It’s a space-based missile defense system intended to protect against foreign ballistic, hypersonic, advanced cruise missiles, and nuclear aerial attacks. If this sounds familiar, it’s because Ronald Reagan proposed the same solution in his “Star Wars” initiative.
The reason for ridicule is because like many decisions from a fascist organization, it didn’t come from experts or scientists. Here’s what actual smart people are saying about this idea:
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: “It is already arguable whether all ICBMs, SLBMs, bombers, and upscaled battle management, command, control and communications required for the next-generation strategic offensive weapons…are affordable or even necessary.”
Breaking Defense: “This [Iron Dome] doesn’t solve the problem of vulnerability…It simply gives America’s adversaries incentives to adapt their own forces to ensure that they’re able to assure their ability to retaliate.”
Union of Concerned Scientists: “President Trump’s vision of an Iron Dome over America is a fantasy…Trump’s idea of a space-based missile defense is a bad investment…Russia and China already appear to be building new types of weapons with the purpose of defeating or avoiding missile defenses. Missile defenses are not a useful or long-term strategy for keeping the US safe from nuclear weapons.”
Responsible Statecraft: “The only reliable defense against nuclear-armed missiles is to reduce the chances that they will be launched in the first place, which calls for a revival of arms control talks between the U.S. and Russia, and a dialogue on future nuclear developments with China”
Aerospace America: “The idea of an impenetrable missile shield over the United States is not achievable…It’s ruinously expensive and strategically unwise, because what you’ll do is your adversary will just build more and it will always be much less expensive for them to spend a little bit more to make you spend a lot.”
And although there are already defense contractors lining up to make this regular fantasy a really expensive fantasy, it should come as no surprise that Elon Musk, a Nazi, is the frontrunner for the contract. It should also come as no surprise that he wants to charge America subscription pricing for it. Because fascists are also corrupt. And Donald Trump is a fascist.
