New cost estimate for Trump’s Golden Dome exceeds $1 trillion over 20 years
According to the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) new estimates, the cost to build Trump’s proposed Golden Dome defense plan will be about $1.2 trillion over the next 20 years, double what the CBO predicted last year and more than six times what the program’s head has predicted.
The Congressional Budget Office issued an updated estimate today of the cost of President Trump’s Golden Dome missile defense system. Lacking detailed data from the Administration, CBO based its analysis on the capabilities called for in Trump’s January 2025 Executive Order and concluded the total cost over 20 years is $1.2 trillion, about twice its estimate last year, with the bulk of it for Space-Based Interceptors.
Trump issued the Iron Dome for America Executive Order on January 27, 2025, seven days after his second term began. He soon renamed it Golden Dome in part to distinguish it from Israel’s Iron Dome system which has more limited capabilities. Trump appointed Gen. Michael Guetlein to lead the project and in an Oval Office meeting on May 20, 2025, said it would cost $175 billion and be completed in three years, before he leaves office.
By then CBO had estimated the cost at $524 billion based on information available at the time.
Guetlein has since raised his estimate to $185 billion, but it is widely viewed as far too low.
Several important points: First, the CBO’s cost estimates are usually wrong, in either direction, which means the cost could be a lot less, or a lot more. Odds are that in this case its estimate is trending in the right direction. Guetlein’s cost estimate is absurdly too low.
Second, the high cost helps explain why a lot of investment money is pouring into a lot of new space startups, for both rocket and satellite companies. Wall Street sees the federal government spending a lot of money on Golden Dome, and wants to get into the action. For the same reason this is why a lot of space companies have shifted their focus from civilian projects to the military.
Finally, the idea of Golden Dome is perfectly reasonable, as its concept has already been proven both by the U.S.’s Patriot missile system and Israel’s Iron Dome. The implementation however is going to be bad, because the people in Washington being asked to do it have a terrible track record. They routinely waste money and manage projects badly.
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$1.2 trillion is, obviously, a huge sum of money, but if it is spent on a properly functioning defense system, it would be well worth it. Comparing such spending to the money WASTED on various government projects, it would actually be a objectively considered a bargain.
I look at it this way.
How much would it cost to replace Long Island if it took a few nuclear hits?
My guess is it will cost closer to 25 trillion dollars. A trillion bucks for each of our largest 25 largest cities.
Its either spend the most money on defense or spend the most most money on offense and stop the other nations from gaining and launching nuclear weapons.
We have to protect our ports first. Its easy to get a bomb in by boat or even sub.
Then we have to protect the space above our nation from space. Which also protects the rest of the world unless we only use geosynchronous satellites. Which is very hard counting reaction times and detection.
Then we can get to ground based high altitude interception systems.
Would a trillion dollars a year be worth it?
Once the laser based systems are built and running it will be cheap to maintain and operate them.
Protect all of north America and we pretty much rule the world.
And I would much rather rule the world than follow any other nation.
(Abandoned) Nike Missile Site D-87
Commerce Township, Michigan
https://youtu.be/YB9g1lh3c5Q
“This base was one of 14 built around metro-Detroit as part of the “Detroit Defense Area.” Approximately 300 sites were built nationwide; tasked with stopping Soviet Bombers from striking industrial & urban centers throughout the Country.
D-87 started operation in January of 1955 with a compliment of 30 AJAX missiles. The site was upgraded in 1959 to accommodate the newer Hercules missiles, which had superior flight capabilities and could be armed with an atomic warhead. The base was deactivated in 1974.”
“In Your Defense: The SAGE System” (1960)
Western Electric Defense Projects Division
https://youtu.be/06drBN8nlWg
23:20
[SKYNET]
“The SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment) System. There were more than twenty SAGE installations located across North America linking hundreds of radar stations, Air Force fighter wings, and missile defense sites in the first large-scale computer communications network. The SAGE network was decentralized and would allow a unit to continue operation even if other sites were disabled. As the Soviet attack threat shifted from long-range bombers to nuclear missiles in the 1960’s, the SAGE system became less strategic. However, parts of the system continued operation into the early 1980’s.”
Re: pzatchok’s comments:
‘You can pay me now, or you can pay me later” was a Fram (auto filters) tagline from the 1970’s. Or, “A pound (kilo) of prevention . . .
Pzatchok is entirely correct.
I have read a great deal about 1947’s Texas City Disaster.
There, a ship called Grandcamp was laden with ammonium nitrate caught fire and exploded…right next to a styrene plant. A chain reaction started, and a second vessel–aptly named High Flyer, also exploded.
My choice for a NYC strike would be three ships–with one being a tanker, and another being an LNG ship (both venting heavily during a temperature inversion, or before a sea breeze).
The third ship between the other two is a cargo vessel full of AMFO, to trigger the god of fuel air explosions.
No nuke needed.
I watched online a new idea several nations around the world are testing out.
Modular Q ships. Converted cargo ships.
The idea is to convert standard shipping containers into various military applications.
Everything from living quarters, medical facilities and kitchens for moving military personnel and weapons platforms.
Laser based anti drone systems, anti ship and aircraft missile launchers. Power generation containers.
Other than cargo ships simply being turned into nuclear bomb transport systems they can now be turned into troop transports for invasions and anti piracy ships.
Anti piracy was the original idea behind this 100 years ago.