Over the summer, Donald Trump delivered a speech on his future plans for the U.S. military, which included a curious element: The former president vowed to create an “Iron Dome” for the United States in a second term.
The Republican never got around to explaining why this was a priority, which was a shame because it was a deeply odd idea. As we discussed soon after, the whole point of an “Iron Dome” is to protect against short-range missiles. Unless the GOP candidate is worried about Canada or Mexico launching a surprise attack, the United States should probably focus on other national security priorities.
I’ve long assumed that Trump endorsed the idea because he thinks the words “iron” and “dome” sound cool.
Nevertheless, the former president has spent months touting his desire to develop a “missile defense shield.” Earlier this year, for example, during a campaign event in New Hampshire, Trump said in reference to a proposed shield and those who would oversee it, “These are not muscle guys here [pointing to his arms], they’re muscle guys up here [pointing to his head].”
He added, “And they calmly walk to us, and ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. They’ve only got 17 seconds to figure this whole thing out, right. Boom. OK. Missile launch. Whoosh. Boom.”
What did that mean? Eleven months later, I still don’t know.
It didn’t seem as if Trump’s rhetoric on the subject could get more foolish, until it did. HuffPost noted:
Trump, meanwhile, told the Georgia audience that he’d put [Herschel] Walker in charge of a “missile defense shield” if he beats Democratic rival Kamala Harris in Tuesday’s presidential election. “We’ll put Herschel Walker in charge of that little sucker,” he said.
No, really, that’s what he said.
Trump: We will build a missile defense shield.. We’ll put Herschel Walker in charge of that little sucker pic.twitter.com/ZN0yHTGf2M
— Acyn (@Acyn) November 4, 2024
Earlier, at the same event, Walker spoke to the crowd and delivered a hearty endorsement in support of “Donald Trump Jr.” Perhaps realizing that he was mistaken, the former football player and failed Senate candidate added, “Donald Trump. Jonald J. Trump.”
In case this isn’t obvious, Walker has no qualifications whatsoever related to missile technology or national security, and putting the most ridiculous Senate candidate of his era “in charge” of such a project would be utterly bonkers.
Indeed, it would be comparable to Trump putting Robert F. Kennedy in a position related to public health — which, as it turns out, is something else the former president wants to do.
