Trump's proposed 'Golden Dome' estimated to cost $1.2 trillion, far more
than he initially said
[May 13, 2026]
By FATIMA HUSSEIN
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's plan to put weapons in space
— pitched as a “Golden Dome for America” missile defense program — is
estimated to cost $1.2 trillion over a 20-year period, according to a
new analysis from the Congressional Budget Office, a far heftier sum
than the initial $175 billion price tag he gave last year.
The nonpartisan CBO report, published Tuesday, is described as an
analysis that reflects “one illustrative approach rather than an
estimate of a specific Administration proposal.”
The futuristic system was ordered by Trump in an executive order during
his first week in office. He said then that he expected the system to be
“fully operational before the end of my term,” which wraps up in January
2029.
“Over the past 40 years, rather than lessening, the threat from
next-generation strategic weapons has become more intense and complex
with the development by peer and near-peer adversaries of
next-generation delivery systems,” Trump said in his executive order,
justifying the need for the missile defense system.
The CBO’s estimates are in part based on a lack of details from the
Defense Department about what and how many systems will be deployed,
“making it impossible to estimate the long term cost” of the Golden Dome
system, the report says.
The concept for the missile system is at least partly inspired by
Israel’s multitiered defenses, often collectively referred to as the
“Iron Dome,” which played a key role in defending it from rocket and
missile fire from Iran and allied militant groups as it prosecutes the
war on Iran alongside the U.S.
The U.S. Golden Dome is envisioned to include ground- and space-based
capabilities able to detect, intercept and stop missiles at all major
stages of a potential attack.
[to top of second column]
|
President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House
on May 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
Congress has already approved roughly $24 billion for the missile
defense initiative through Republicans' massive tax and spending
measure signed into law last summer.
Gen. Michael A. Guetlein, director of the Golden Dome project,
testified last month about its costs. He told lawmakers that various
groups estimating costs “just take the cost of a legacy system and
they multiply it out and they get these really large numbers and
they say, well, that must be it.
"That is not what Golden Dome is doing,” the U.S. Space Force
general said. “We are laser focused on affordability.”
Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., who requested the estimate from the CBO,
said in response to the report that the missile defense project is
“nothing more than a massive giveaway to defense contractors paid
for entirely by working Americans.”
Last May, the president said the Golden Dome would cost $175
billion. The CBO last year estimated that just the space-based
components of the Golden Dome could cost as much as $542 billion
over the next 20 years.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
