Trump, Who Once Called Kim Jong-Un ‘Rocket Man,’ Calls For A ‘Space Force’

If only Philip K. Dick, Isaac Asimov, Ursula LeGuin, and Ray Bradbury were around to see this.

Could the Star Wars movies and Star Trek be classified as documentaries now?

On Monday, amid the human rights violations we are perpetrating at our southern border, Donald Trump announced plans to instruct the Pentagon to create a sixth military branch–a “space force.”

Trump claimed this would propel the United States ahead of China and Russia in a new race to the moon and Mars.

Trump said:

“Very importantly, I’m hereby directing the Department of Defense and Pentagon to immediately begin the process necessary to establish a space force as the sixth branch of the armed forces. That’s a big statement. We are going to have the air force and we are going to have the space force – separate but equal. It is going to be something so important.”

He added:

“It’s going to be important monetarily and militarily. But so important for right up here – the psyche. We don’t want China and Russia and other countries leading us…When it comes to defending America, it is not enough to merely have an American presence in space. We must have American dominance in space. So important.”

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) tweeted:

“The president told a US general to create a new Space Force as 6th branch of military today, which generals tell me they don’t want. Thankfully the president can’t do it without Congress because now is NOT the time to rip the Air Force apart. Too many important missions at stake.”

Trump proposed building a celestial-based military force last fall.

In October, Defense Secretary, Jim Mattis, stated in a memo:

“I oppose the creation of a new military service and additional organizational layers at a time when we are focused on reducing overhead and integrating joint warfighting functions.”

In September, Trump famously called North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un “little rocket man.”

Who’s “rocket man” now?

Image credit: commondreams.org

Ted Millar is writer and teacher. His work has been featured in myriad literary journals, including Better Than Starbucks, The Broke Bohemian, Straight Forward Poetry, Caesura, Circle Show, Cactus Heart, Third Wednesday, and The Voices Project. He is also a contributor to The Left Place blog on Substack, and Medium.