President Donald Trump again suggested forming a sixth branch of the military — the “space force” — during an event at the White House with West Point students on Tuesday, arguing the new branch may be necessary because the U.S. is “getting very big in space.”
“We’re getting very big in space both militarily and for other reasons,” he said, addressing the West Point Military Academy football team as he presented them with the Commander in Chief trophy Tuesday. “We are seriously thinking of the space force and you’ll join the greatest force for peace and justice the world has ever known. You will keep us safe, you will keep up strong, you will keep us free, and thank you for your service.”
Trump has floated the idea of a “space force” in the past. While addressing members of the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in March, he said the idea started as a joke, but then he changed his mind.
“Space is a war-fighting domain, just like land, air and sea,” he said earlier this spring. “I said, ‘maybe we need a new force, we’ll call it the Space Force,’ and I was not really serious. Then I said, ‘what a great idea,’ maybe we’ll have to do that.”