Timeline Established By Trump Administration For Golden Dome, With $25 Billion Price Tag
on May 20, 2025
“We Will Truly Be Completing The Job That President Reagan Started 40 Years Ago.”
For the past 14 years, Israel has been protected by the Iron Dome, a radar-driven missile defense system.
Now, the United States may soon have an all-weather air defense system of its own.
On Tuesday, May 20, President Donald Trump was joined by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and other officials in the Oval Office of the White House to make an announcement regarding the Golden Dome.
This announcement follows a January 27 executive order issued by Trump to establish an “Iron Dome for America.”
Trump’s Golden Dome Announcement
“Ronald Reagan wanted it many years ago, but we didn’t have the technology,” Trump began, speaking from the Oval Office on May 20. “In the campaign, I promised the American people that I would build a cutting-edge missile defense shield to protect our homeland from the threat of missile attack.”
Of the plan for the Golden Dome, Trump said, “This design for the Golden Dome will integrate 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.”
The Golden Dome includes space-based sensors and interceptors, with Trump declaring, “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.”
He added, “We will have the best system ever … We will truly be completing the job that President Reagan started 40 years ago, forever ending the missile threat to the American homeland.”
Within the so-called “One, Big, Beautiful Bill” — which is presently being deliberated over by the House of Representatives — there is $25 billion allocated for the Golden Dome, which is a fraction of the $1 trillion designated for the Department of Defense budget.
Trump appointed U.S. Space Force General Michael Gutlein to oversee the development of Golden Dome.
Speaking on this program, Gutlein told Trump and those present in the Oval Office, “Today is a great day for the nation, as we double down on protection of our homeland.”
Gutlein stated:
“As you are aware, our adversaries have become very capable and very intent on holding the homeland at risk. While we have been focused on keeping the peace overseas, our adversaries have been quickly modernizing their nuclear forces — building out ballistic missiles capable o hosting multiple warheads, building out hypersonic missiles capable of attacking the United States within an hour … building cruise missiles that can navigate around our radar and defenses, building submarines that can sneak up on our shores, and, worst yet, building space weapons. It is time that we change that equation.”
He added, “Golden Dome is a bold and aggressive approach to hurry up and protect the homeland from our adversaries.”
Watch the full announcement here:
The Iron Dome For America
According to the January 27 executive order, which called for the establishing of the defense system, “The threat of attack by ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles, and other advanced aerial attacks, remains the most catastrophic threat facing the United States.”
Referring to the Strategic Defense Initiative, better known as “Star Wars,” which was instituted by President Ronald Reagan in 1983 to protect American soil from ballistic nuclear missile attacks, the order states the SDI “was canceled before its goal could be realized.”
In 1993, President Bill Clinton ended SDI, but redirected the funds toward theatre ballistic missiles, used in combat zones.
Since 2002, when the United States withdrew from the Cold War-era Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with Russia, the executive order states, “Homeland missile defense policy has remained only to stay ahead of rogue-nation threats and accidental or unauthorized missile launches.”
Hoping to “further the goal of peace through strength,” Trump’s executive order declared, “The United States will provide for the common defense of its citizens and the Nation by deploying and maintaining a next-generation missile defense shield.”
Related: “Peace Through Strength” Touted By Trump As He Addresses U.S. Troops In Middle East
Recent Iron Dome Successes In Israel
Following the terrorist attack against Israel on October 7, 2023, which was perpetrated by Hamas, the governing power of Palestine, Israel has been subject to threats from a variety of surrounding nations in the region.
Most notably, Iran made a significant aerial attack against Israel on April 13, 2024, launching 170 drones, 30 cruise missiles, and 120 ballistic missiles. Most of the attack was intercepted by the Iron Dome.
Similarly, when Iran fired 200 more ballistic missiles against Israel on October 1, 2024, the Iron Dome intercepted most of the missiles.
Since October 7, 2023, Palestine, Iran, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Houthi rebels in Yemen, and the Islamic Resistance in Iraq have all attacked Israel.
