Trump Warming to Establishment of ‘Space Force’ as New Military Branch

Administration had opposed similar 'Space Corps' last year

President Trump has confirmed that the idea of establishing a “Space Force” branch of the US military is growing on him, even though he says the idea started off as a joke. He now says the idea makes a lot of sense to him, despite actively opposing such a move last year.

At the time, the House had proposed a “Space Corps” established as part of the Air Force, which was opposed as creating more layers of organization and bureaucracy. It was quite a surprise, then, when Trump told military members in San Diego that a “Space Force” could happen soon.

The Pentagon has been eager to dramatically increase its spending on military assets aimed at space, despite a conspicuous lack of other countries doing so seemingly meaning they’re creating a fighting force that has no conceivable opponent.

With a lot of money to be thrown around on space assets, it is likely there will be a lot of arguing over whether this will be an Air Force thing, or if it really is a completely independent branch of the military. Trump says the US is “doing a tremendous amount of work in space,” and that he believes a new force “could happen.”

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.