President Donald Trump issued an executive order to build an Iron Dome for America on Monday night. He categorized the need for the “next-generation missile defense shield” as an integral part of a strong national defense against “peer and near-peer adversaries of next-generation delivery systems.”
The president first discussed plans to construct a new weapons defense system while campaigning for president, emphasizing the need for a “state-of-the-art missile defense shield made in the USA.” He again mentioned plans for the Iron Dome during a rally in Washington, D.C., the day before his inauguration. The executive order made the intention to build the weapon official policy of the Trump administration.
Trump highlighted that the Iron Dome for America was part of his administration’s “peace through strength” policy. It will be a vital instrument to discourage the country’s enemies, noted the order.
“The United States will provide for the common defense of its citizens and the Nation by deploying and maintaining a next-generation missile defense shield,” read the executive order. “The United States will deter — and defend its citizens and critical infrastructure against — any foreign aerial attack on the Homeland, and the United States will guarantee its secure second-strike capability.”
The executive order highlighted the necessary capabilities of the Iron Dome weapon. It must defend against “ballistic, hypersonic, advanced cruise missiles, and other next-generation aerial attacks,” deploy “proliferated space-based interceptors capable of boost-phase intercept,” capable of defeating “missile attacks prior to launch and in the boost phase,” and deploy “non-kinetic capabilities to augment the kinetic defeat of ballistic, hypersonic, advanced cruise missiles, and other next-generation aerial attacks,” among others.
The future proposal also includes an “updated assessment of the strategic missile threat to the Homeland” and a list of locations for the weapon to be deployed that would maximize success against any attacks from geopolitical foes, including “nuclear adversaries.”
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Trump did not specify in the executive order when construction would begin. The only reference to any time frame was that the secretary of defense must submit a proposal for the American Iron Dome within 60 days. The proposal must include plans to adhere to “capabilities-based requirements,” architecture plans, and a strategy for implementation.
There were no mentions of costs or how long the weapon would take to build. However, the proposal was to include a plan for funding and “sufficient time for consideration by the President before finalization of the Fiscal Year 2026 Budget.”
