Former President Donald Trump pledged to created a Space National Guard if he is elected in November to another term in the White House during a recent event in Michigan. Trump announced that the Space National Guard would serve as the primary combat reserve for the U.S. Space Force, which was established during his first term in office.
According to The Post Millennial, Trump’s announcement came during his appearance at the National Guard Association of the United States’ 146th General Conference in Detroit, Michigan.
“One of my proudest achievements in my first term was to create Space Force, the first new branch of the armed forces in over 70 years; that’s a big deal,” the former president said. “Now that Space Force is up and running, I agree with your leadership… that the time has come to create a Space National Guard as the primary combat reserve of the U.S. Space Force.”
Trump added, “As president, I will sign historic legislation creating a Space National Guard into law.”
During his National Guard Association appearance in Detroit, Trump said he had discussed the idea of a Space National Guard with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and that the Republican senator strongly supported the proposal.
“So we’re going to do that. Space Force has been very important — very, very important,” Trump added. “When I did that, the other people came in, they wanted to end it, and they were just hammered.”
According to The New York Post, Trump’s comments appeared to be in reference to former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki’s 2021 comments, which mocked the decision regarding the future of the Space Force by comparing it to the Biden-Harris administration’s decision to repaint Air Force One. After being heavily criticized for her comments, Psaki clarified, “We are not revisiting the decision to establish the Space Force.”
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Trump claimed that before the creation of the Space Force, the United States was “getting just destroyed in space” and is now “leading with all of the major metrics in space.”
The New York Post reported that lawmakers have been divided over whether the Space Force needs its own National Guard division to help support its mission. The Space Force currently has roughly 14,000 members.
According to The New York Post, states such as Alaska and California have already directed Army and Air National Guard units to work alongside space operations; however, the outlet noted that 48 state governors previously resisted the Biden-Harris administration’s proposal to transfer National Guard members to the Space Force.
