Trump talks ‘Space Force’
Sixth military branch would protect U.S. assets in outer space
President Trump rolls out his plan to direct the Pentagon to establish a sixth branch of the armed forces for protecting U.S. interests in space.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Monday that he would direct the Pentagon to establish a sixth branch of the armed forces dedicated to protecting U.S. interests in outer space, an idea that has troubled lawmakers and some members of his administration, who have cautioned that the action could create unnecessary bureaucratic responsibilities for a military burdened by conflicts.
During a speech at a meeting of the National Space Council, Trump announced plans to protect U.S. interests in space through monitoring commercial traffic and debris, initiatives he said would be “great not only in terms of jobs and everything else, it’s great for the psyche of our country.”
Longstanding policy debate
Minutes later, the president zeroed in on Gen. Joseph Dunford Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and tasked him with creating another branch of the military.
“Gen. Dunford, if you would carry that assignment out, I would be very greatly honored,” Trump said from the stage, after searching for him in the crowd. “We got it,” the general said. With his statement, Trump waded into a policy debate about space that has spanned administrations, beginning in earnest during the Clinton era. Trump, who has previously teased his desire to create a space force, entered the fray as he was scheduled to sign a less ambitious proposal, one that would establish a framework for directing commercial traffic in space and monitoring debris.
Analysts were puzzling over the particulars.
“Does that verbal order translate into something more concrete?” said Todd Harrison, director of the Aerospace Security Project and director of Defense Budget Analysis at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “The most he can really ask them to do is start planning for it.”
With his interest in space, Trump appears to be taking a more protective stance than his modern predecessors, who over the years have wrestled with ways — and with rival governments, including Russia and China — to keep military conflicts in space at bay while protecting U.S. interests, including commercial operations and the satellite system.
More DOD bureaucracy
“At best this is simply the creation of an additional DOD bureaucracy,” Daryl G. Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, said in an interview, referring to the Department of Defense. “At worst, it is the first step in an accelerated competition between the U.S., China and Russia in the space realm that is going to be more difficult to avert without direct talks about responsible rules of the road.”