A Completely Serious Mike Pence Wants $8 Billion From Taxpayers For Trump’s ‘Space Force’

The Defense Department today missed a deadline to submit a report to Congress about how this space force is to be structured and we’re told that the White House has now twice rejected drafts because the Defense Department doesn’t want a space force. How does the President plan to force the creation of Space Force?

That’s the question Sarah Huckabee Sanders was at pains to answer at a press briefing last week, and suffice to say, she wasn’t up to the task. Here’s the exchange, for anyone who might have missed it:

Clearly, the press secretary is just as incredulous as the rest of America when it comes to the idea of building a space army, and those interested in reviewing the short history of “Space Force” can do so here.

Since the President first floated the idea on March 13 while speaking to soldiers gathered at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, the public has been fascinated with the “plan” if for no other reason than it represents Trump’s crowning achievement in turning reality into a cartoon.

Trump has, on at least three occasions, made it clear that he is deadly serious about the idea and on Thursday, Mike Pence revealed some of the details behind the White House’s “strategy” (if that’s what you want to call it) when it comes to marshaling support for the creation of an intergalactic marine corps.

Pence, speaking at the Pentagon, began by explaining why this is necessary. Take it away, Mike:

The English language is not a sufficient tool when it comes to lampooning that, but Pence would go on to make it even more laughable, parroting Trump’s line about how space has become “a war-fighting domain”. America, Mike promised, “will not shrink from this challenge.”

“Non-existent” – Mike forgot a word in there. America “will not shrink from this non-existent challenge.”

Let’s just be honest with ourselves for a minute. Nobody is fighting wars “in space”. It is not “a war-fighting domain.” Or at least it wasn’t, until now, because according to Pence, Trump is asking Congress to spend $8 billion (with a “b”) over the next five years to fund “space systems”. Listen to this:

Apparently, the Defense Department is going to release a “report” on Thursday that provides further details around Trump’s plan to ensure that America’s “best and bravest” will have the funding they need to “deter a new generation of threats to our people.”

Again (and when I say “again”, I mean for the thousandth time), it is still not clear what it is in space that represents “a threat to our people.” Obviously, there are myriad military applications in space, but by most accounts, America has those covered. So it would appear that these “threats” are, for the most part, a figment of Trump’s imagination.

And now, he is asking taxpayers to fork over $8 billion so that he can tilt at space windmills. That, in addition to the $30 billion in funding he wants for his border wall.

So all told, if this administration has its way, the American taxpayer will be asked to pony up some $40 billion in the interest of i) building a concrete wall on the border with Mexico and ii) funding the creation of what sounds like a real-life star fleet.

I got nothin’.

Fortunately, Trump isn’t similarly at a loss…

Space Force all the way!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 9, 2018