Donald Trump news: US President announces plans to create Israeli-style Golden Dome

President Donald Trump has revealed the US will embark on an ambitious plan to build a $271 billion Golden Dome-style missile defence shield.

Mr Trump announced the plans in the Oval Office with Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth on Tuesday.

“This design for the Golden Dome will integrate with our existing defence capabilities and should be fully operational before the end of my term,” President Trump said.

“So we’ll have it done in about three years. Once fully constructed, the Golden Dome will be capable of intercepting missiles even if they are launched from other sides of the world and even if they are launched from space.”

The Golden Dome is estimated to cost $US175 billion ($271b) and take years to implement, as the controversial program faces both political scrutiny and funding uncertainty.

Mr Trump also announced that General Michael Guetlein, who currently serves as the vice chief of space operations, would be responsible for overseeing the progress of the system.

The Golden Dome is envisioned to include ground and space-based capabilities that are able to detect and stop missiles at all four major stages of a potential attack, and will detect and destroy them before they are even launched.

The system would be able to intercept missiles in their earliest stage of flight, stopping them mid-course in the air, or halting them in the final minutes as they descend toward a target.

Mr Hegseth’s office issued a statement following the announcement, lauding the decision as a huge step forward in the defence of the United States.

“The Department of Defence welcomes President Trump’s announcement regarding the Golden Dome for America, a next-generation missile defence shield,” Hegseth’s statement said.

“This bold initiative, formalised in Executive Order 14186 on January 27, 2025, represents a historic investment in American security and fulfils our duty to protect the homeland first and foremost.

“The Golden Dome will progressively protect our nation from aerial attacks from any foe. Within the last four decades, our adversaries have developed more advanced and lethal long-range weapons than ever before, including ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles capable of striking the homeland with either conventional or nuclear warheads.

Mr Hegseth went on to congratulate Mr Trump and applaud his decision to push ahead with the program and his “vision” for a future which offered the US worldwide protection against its enemies.

“In response to the President’s bold vision and clear direction, the Department has developed a draft architecture and implementation plan for a Golden Dome system.

“This historic investment builds on two of the Department of Defence’s three main objectives: rebuilding our military capability and re-establishing deterrence.

“The Golden Dome builds on what have always been strengths of the United States: bold vision, innovation, and cutting-edge technology.

“As the President stated in the EO, the Golden Dome will include space-based interceptors and sensors. Some US technology in space such as space-based sensors and air and missile defence exist today, but all of the systems comprising the Golden Dome architecture will need to be seamlessly integrated.

“We are working with Congress to secure $US25 billion of funding in the One Big Beautiful reconciliation bill for critical capabilities necessary to ensure the protection of the US homeland from the aerial threats of today and tomorrow.

“The United States will continue to enhance its existing capabilities to provide a thorough layered defence for its homeland. This EO does not represent an abandonment of existing ground, sea, and air-based kinetic defences focused on missile interception in the mid-course or terminal phases of flight. Golden Dome is being designed in close coordination with NORAD, USNORTHCOM, USSPACECOM, and other DoD stakeholders to ensure full interoperability and real-time integration with our existing defence architecture.

“The Department remains committed to providing our nation with a strong, credible deterrent and will ensure all work done on Golden Dome for America adds to and does not detract from our ability to deter nuclear and non-nuclear strategic attacks on the United States.

“Our goal is peace through strength. Golden Dome ensures that the American homeland is not left exposed while adversaries develop more advanced and lethal long-range weapons.”

The Congressional Budget Office estimated this month that just the space-based components of the Golden Dome could cost as much as $US542 billion over the next 20 years.

Mr Trump’s Golden Dome will be an upscaled version of the famous Iron Dome that Israel implemented to defend itself from missile attacks stemming from surrounding countries in the region.

Launched in 2011, the Iron Dome is an air-defence system developed to intercept and destroy shells and rockets fired from up to 70 kilometres away.

The system’s creation was financially backed by the US government, which continues to contribute billions of dollars to its ongoing maintenance.

Iron Dome’s radar systems continually monitor the skies and intercept missiles inbound to Israel territories, before launching intercept missiles to destroy them.

The Israeli version has been attributed with saving countless lives in the war torn region and is currently active 24/7.