Trump’s ‘Golden Dome’ missile shield to cost $1.2 trillion, far more than planned

Cost of system will dwarf initial $175 billion price tag, Congress estimates; US president previously said it would be in operation by end of his term in 2029

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump’s plan to put weapons in space — pitched as a “Golden Dome for America” missile defense program — is estimated to cost $1.2 trillion, according to a new analysis from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a far heftier sum than the initial $175 billion price tag he gave last year.

The nonpartisan CBO report, published Tuesday, is described as an analysis that reflects “one illustrative approach rather than an estimate of a specific Administration proposal.”

The futuristic system was ordered by Trump in an executive order during his first week in office. He said then that he expected the system to be “fully operational before the end of my term,” which wraps up 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, justifying the need for the missile defense system.

The concept for the missile system is at least partly inspired by Israel’s multitiered defenses, whose lowest tier for intercepting short-range rockets and missile is called the Iron Dome. The system, along with the David’s Sling medium-range air defense system and the long-range Arrow, played a key role in defending Israel from rocket and missile fire from Iran and allied terror groups as it prosecuted the war on Iran alongside the US, and throughout the multifront war with Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis that began in late 2023.

Trump has repeatedly stated his desire to replicate the system for the United States, and signed an executive order shortly after taking office calling on the military to develop an “Iron Dome for America.”

The US Golden Dome is envisioned to include ground and space-based capabilities able to detect, intercept, and stop missiles at all major stages of a potential attack.

Congress has already approved roughly $24 billion for the missile defense initiative through Republicans’ massive tax and spending measure signed into law last summer.

In May 2025, the president said the Golden Dome would cost $175 billion. The CBO last year estimated that just the space-based components of the Golden Dome could cost as much as $542 billion over the next 20 years.

JTA and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.