A new analysis from the Congressional Budget Office indicates that President Donald Trump’s proposed space-based missile defense system, known as the “Golden Dome for America,” could carry a price tag of about $1.2 trillion over two decades—far exceeding the $175 billion figure the president cited last year.

The report, released Tuesday by the nonpartisan CBO, stresses that its findings are based on a hypothetical framework and represent “one illustrative approach rather than an estimate of a specific Administration proposal.”

Trump ordered development of the advanced defense system through an executive order during his first week in office, stating at the time that he expected it to be “fully operational before the end of my term,” which concludes in January 2029.

“Over the past 40 years, rather than lessening, the threat from next-generation strategic weapons has become more intense and complex with the development by peer and near-peer adversaries of next-generation delivery systems,” Trump said in his executive order, explaining the rationale behind the initiative.

According to the CBO, uncertainty surrounding the scope of the project—particularly the number and type of systems to be deployed—makes it difficult to determine the full long-term cost. The report notes that the War Department has not yet provided sufficient detail, “making it impossible to estimate the long term cost” of the Golden Dome system.

The idea behind the program draws partly from Israel’s layered missile defense network, commonly referred to as the “Iron Dome,” which has been instrumental in protecting against rocket and missile attacks from Iran and allied groups during the ongoing conflict.

The envisioned U.S. system would combine both terrestrial and space-based technologies capable of identifying, tracking and intercepting missiles at multiple stages of an attack.

Lawmakers have already approved approximately $24 billion in funding for the initiative through a Republican-backed tax and spending package signed into law last summer.

Gen. Michael A. Guetlein, who oversees the Golden Dome project, addressed cost concerns during congressional testimony last month, pushing back against some of the higher estimates.

He told lawmakers that various groups estimating costs “just take the cost of a legacy system and they multiply it out and they get these really large numbers and they say, well, that must be it.

“That is not what Golden Dome is doing,” the U.S. Space Force general said. “We are laser focused on affordability.”

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., who requested the CBO review, sharply criticized the program following the report’s release, arguing that it benefits defense contractors at taxpayers’ expense.

He said the project is “nothing more than a massive giveaway to defense contractors paid for entirely by working Americans.”

When Trump first introduced the Golden Dome concept last May, he estimated its cost at $175 billion. However, even earlier projections from the CBO suggested that the space-based components alone could reach as much as $542 billion over a 20-year period.

{Matzav.com}