Copyright newrepublic
Trump has been pushing for the project throughout his second term, signing an executive order only days after being sworn into office to back up his campaign promise to build a missile defense system better than Israel’s “Iron Dome.” But when he unveiled the Golden Dome’s initial designs back in April, Trump dodged questions about whether military leaders even want such a system or think it is necessary (they don’t). Plus, the dome may not even work, except to line Musk’s pockets even further. The tech oligarch’s companies already have a ton of government contracts (although his stocks took a massive hit, thanks to Department of Government Efficiency activities). And Trump has taken the hilarious approach of using the Golden Dome’s supposed appeal to try to convince Canada to become the fifty-first state, claiming it would reap its benefits for “ZERO DOLLARS” if it became part of the U.S. Trump says that the Golden Dome would cost $175 billion, although analysts think it will cost much more than that. Meanwhile, the SNAP program is on the verge of expiring amid the government shutdown, and the impending end of health care subsidies stands to make medical care too expensive for millions of Americans.
