Making America great again wasn’t good enough for Donald Trump. Now he’s setting his sights on the universe.
On Monday, the President announced the U.S. will establish a “Space Force” as a way for the United States to exercise extraterrestrial dominance, according to Reuters.
“Our destiny beyond the Earth is not only a matter of national identity, but a matter of national security,” Trump said at a White House event attended by former astronaut Buzz Aldrin as well as executives of major aerospace companies.
“When it comes to defending America, it is not enough to merely have an American presence in space. We must have American dominance in space,” Trump said.
At one point, Trump said the “Space Force” would be “separate but equal” to the Air Force, a phrase harkening back to America’s racist past.
The idea is not universally supported by members of the Trump administration.
Defense Secretary James Mattis blasted the idea last year when it was first proposed by Congress, according to TechCrunch.
In a letter to Ohio Representative Mike Turner, one of the leaders of the Space Force initiative in Congress, Mattis said he did “not wish to add a separate service that would likely present…
