President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday to build an American version of the Israeli “Iron Dome” missile defense system.
An expert in national security—and the Iron Dome, in particular—praised Trump’s action as fulfilling President Ronald Reagan’s strategic defense plan.
According to a news release provided early to The Daily Signal, Trump’s executive order “directs the implementation of a next-generation missile defense shield for the United States against ballistic, hypersonic, advanced cruise missiles, and other next-generation aerial attacks.”
The order “accelerates the development and deployment of Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor Layers, proliferated space-based interceptors, a Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, capabilities to defeat salvoes prior to launch, non-kinetic missile defense capabilities, and underlayer and terminal-phase intercept capabilities.”
The order directs a review of America’s current missile defense posture “to defend United States troops deployed abroad” and cooperation with U.S. partners and allies on missile defense technology.
The White House characterized “the threat of attack by ballistic, cruise, and hypersonic missiles” as “a catastrophic threat,” warning that the threat has increased over the past 40 years.
“Notwithstanding this increasing threat, United States homeland missile defense policy has been limited to staying ahead of rogue nation threats and accidental or unauthorized missile launches,” the document states.
The White House framed the move as Trump’s fulfilling a recent promise.
“I will direct our military to begin construction of the great Iron Dome missile defense shield, which will be made all in the USA,” Trump pledged at a December rally in Phoenix.
Victoria Coates, vice president of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy at The Heritage Foundation and author of the new book “The Battle For The Jewish State: How Israel—And America—Can Win,” praised the move. She predicted it would fulfill the ambitions of President Ronald Reagan, who announced a similar missile defense program in 1983.
“President Trump’s comprehensive missile defense plan for the United States will fulfill President Reagan’s vision for the Strategic Defense Initiative laid out some four decades ago,” Coates told The Daily Signal. She noted the program “was designed in Reagan’s words ‘to prevent deaths rather than avenge them.’”
“Like Israel’s highly effective system of the same name, President Trump’s Iron Dome will provide an impenetrable defense for the American people that will bring peace through strength,” the security expert added.
“The United States and Israel have set the gold standard for missile defense systems, which have reliably foiled enemy missile and drone attacks—most recently intercepting 200 Iranian ballistic missiles launched at Israel on Oct. 1, 2024,” Coates noted. “Given the dangerous global situation President Trump has inherited, it is only prudent to provide this type of protection for the American people as well.”
Tyler O’Neil is managing editor of The Daily Signal and the author of two books: “Making Hate Pay: The Corruption of the Southern Poverty Law Center,” and “The Woketopus: The Dark Money Cabal Manipulating the Federal Government.”
Reprinted with Permission from The Daily Signal – By Tyler O’Neil
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AMAC or AMAC Action.
Thank you President Trump for doing everything to protect us, from both internal and external evil doers.
It’s about time that we have a POTUS that cares about AMERICA and does things FOR AMERICA.
Audit the DOD to find out where all the money went, recoup it to pay for Iron Dome. The DOD has not passed an audit in 3 years. Did the money go to Ukraine, to congress, to Democrats, to the Biden syndicate?
The Democrats would have likely been on board with this, IF it had been THEIR idea. This is going to cost a fortune and the Trump administration needs to work very closely with DoD to get this within existing budgets. Take out all the $20,000 toilet seats, $100 hammers and cancel the programs not working, THEN go in front of the public and make a case for this, using money saved from elsewhere in the budget!! Otherwise, people are going to rebel against it. Convince the people it is necessary and can be paid for with savings from DOGE.
This should have already been in place for specific locations that are key to the operation of our country a long time ago when Reagen first brought it up. If nothing else, the hurricanes, tornados, floods and wild fires should be showing us just how fragile and vulnerable we are. Right out of the box we should be shooting down those balloons and anything else on a sight seeing trip across our country.
Everything Pres Trump says and does is good for citizens of the USA and the rest of the law abiding world Contrast that with everything Dems say and do is bad for the USA and the good people of the world.
Defense is fine but we need a good offense too. That means American shipyards building Navy ships! The threat is Southeast Asia + the South China Sea… China!
Need IDF Missile Unit in Space Force & Air Force & Army for US Iron Dome project
& reuse Reagen SDI