Popular Information

04/07/2026

While there is no money for childcare, Trump’s defense budget allocates at least $17.5 billion to the “Golden Dome” — a space-based missile defense system. This is in addition to $25 billion that was earmarked for the project last year.

When the Golden Dome was first announced by Trump in May 2025, he claimed the project would cost $175 billion and be operational before the end of his term. Already, the price tag has increased to $185 billion, and the Pentagon says it will not be operational until at least 2035. Both of those estimates are likely much too optimistic.

In September 2025, Todd Harrison of the American Enterprise Institute estimated that a system actually capable of neutralizing threats from all countries would cost $3.6 trillion. Among other limitations, a $185 billion system would not be effective against threats from China or Russia, which have thousands of missiles, Harrison argues. Bloomberg’s independent analysis found that an effective system would cost about $1.1 trillion. Senator Tim Sheehy (R-MT), a Trump supporter and the founder of the Golden Dome caucus, acknowledged that “[i]t will likely cost in the trillions if and when Golden Dome is completed.”

Some scientists believe that, no matter how much is spent, a space-based missile defense system will not be effective. A February 2025 paper by the American Physical Society (APS) found that to defend against just one North Korean missile would require “a constellation of at least 1600 interceptors.” To defend against 10 missiles fired simultaneously, the United States would need 40,000 space-based interceptors, about three times the number of active satellites currently in orbit.

Even if a mutli-trillion-dollar system with tens of thousands of interceptors could be deployed, it could still be defeated with relatively inexpensive countermeasures, like decoys. The White House seems to acknowledge that the missile defense system it is building will not actually defend the country against a missile attack. “The goal is to not create a ‘perfect’ defense, but to provide an increasingly effective shield,” the White House budget document states.

While the efficacy of the Golden Dome is uncertain at best, the project will undoubtedly be a windfall for key Trump political allies.