US President Donald Trump finally kicked off the Golden Dome missile defense shield program on May 20 by announcing the selection of the concept and initial funding of the program. Interestingly, Canada wants Golden Dome protection despite sustained tensions between the two allies.
President Trump laid out new details of the system on May 20, four months after he signed an executive order calling for a 60-day study of architecture options for an advanced, layered homeland missile shield. However, he did not give any details on the concept that was selected or the architecture of the Golden Dome.
Trump said he anticipates the system will be able to intercept missiles “even if they are launched from space” and be “fully operational before the end of my term.”
Trump’s term ends in 2029, which makes the timeline very ambitious. However, it aligns with the timeline given to other futuristic platforms that he has initiated recently, such as the F-47 sixth-generation fighter jet.
“We’ll have it done in three years,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “Once fully constructed, the Golden Dome will be capable of intercepting missiles even if they are launched from other sides of the world.”
President Trump announced that General Michael A. Guetlein, the vice chief of space operations at the US Space Force, will lead the project.
The President disclosed that the Golden Dome is expected to cost over US$175 billion. This is in contrast to the previous Congressional Budget Office estimate that the US might have to spend up to US$542 billion over 20 years to develop and launch the network of space-based interceptors.
Trump said that about US$25 billion for this program will come from his comprehensive tax and expenditure cut plan, which he is currently urging House Republicans to approve.
“We’re the only ones that have this – we call it super technology,” Trump stated. “Golden Dome will integrate with our existing defense capabilities and should be fully operational before the end of my term.”
Though little is known about the exact architecture of this shield, we know that the Golden Dome is expected to possess both ground-based and space-based capabilities. It will be able to detect and shoot down aerial threats at all major stages of a potential attack: before launch, the earliest stage of the flight, mid-course in the flight, as well as the last minutes when it is descending towards a target.
The discussions about this interception have mostly revolved around destroying threats during the boost phase. The Golden Dome would require a sophisticated network of satellites, space-based radar systems, orbital interceptors, and maybe directed energy weapons to destroy threats during the boost phase, when a hostile missile is just being launched. The boost-phase interception is technically challenging due to the short engagement window and the need for precise, rapid response systems.
The US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during the White House briefing that the system will be designed to “protect the homeland” from “cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles, drones, whether they’re conventional or nuclear.”
Notably, Trump’s detailing of the plans came less than a week after the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) released an assessment chart called “Golden Dome for America: Current and Future Missile Threats to the U.S. Homeland,” which illustrated the threats that a Golden Dome-like system would have to protect against.
This included concerns that China could amass dozens of orbiting missiles with nuclear warheads in about ten years. The DIA said that these missiles would be able to get to the US in significantly less time than conventional intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). The chart specifically noted the prospective expansion of orbiting, nuclear-armed space-based missiles in a “Fractional Orbital Bombardment System,” or FOBS, in China and, to some extent, in Russia, as recently reported by the EurAsian Times.
Donald Trump was referring to this particular threat when he said that the Golden Dome will be able to intercept missiles even when they are launched from space. While the missile defense shield is Trump’s idea, there is a consensus that the scale and sophistication of threats to the continental US will see a rapid expansion in the future, particularly from China and Russia.
Following Trump’s announcement, China warned that Donald Trump’s “Golden Dome” missile shield system undermines global stability.”
Speaking at a regular briefing on May 21, the Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Mao Ning, said: “This undermines global strategic balance and stability. China expresses serious concern over this. We urge the United States to abandon the development and deployment of a global missile defence system as soon as possible.”
However, a more interesting revelation from the Golden Dome concept announcement was that Canada is interested in joining the missile shield initiative.
Canada Wants Golden Dome Protection
Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump said, “Canada has called us and they want to be a part of it, so we’ll be talking to them.” “They want to have protection also. So, as usual, we help Canada do the best we can,” he added.
Trump said that while it “automatically” makes sense to include Canada in the new defense system, Canada will have to pay its fair share.
Shortly after Trump made this statement, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office confirmed that the Canadian administration was in talks with the United States about negotiating a new security and economic relationship between the two nations, which “naturally includes strengthening NORAD and related initiatives such as the Golden Dome.”
“Canadians gave the Prime Minister a strong mandate to negotiate a comprehensive new security and economic relationship with the United States,” a spokesperson for the office told Canadian publication Global News. “To that end, the Prime Minister and his ministers are having wide-ranging and constructive discussions with their American counterparts. These discussions naturally include strengthening NORAD and related initiatives such as the Golden Dome.”
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is a joint US-Canadian military organization responsible for aerospace warning, aerospace control, and maritime warning for North America. Established in 1958, it monitors and defends North American airspace against threats such as missiles, aircraft, and space-based objects.
However, despite collaborating on air defense, Canada is not a part of the US Northern Command’s ballistic missile defense system. This means that even though Canada collaborates with NORAD to monitor and identify missile threats, the ability to shoot down a ballistic missile is entirely up to the United States.
The administration of former Prime Minister Paul Martin announced in 2005 that his country would not join the US system, a decision that has been consistently criticised in both countries. In fact, the subsequent Canadian government has internally been urged to reconsider its decision in recent years. Now, with the Liberal Canadian government focused on bolstering air defense, the Golden Dome appears like the most natural choice.
Despite this, the decision to opt into the Golden Dome is interesting as it comes amid prevailing tensions between the two allies. Canada was earlier miffed by Donald Trump’s repeated statements about making it the 51st state of the United States of America, seen as a direct attack on Canadian sovereignty. In November 2024, Trump went so far as to call the former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau the “governor of the 51st state.”
Trump recently reiterated this in a May 7, 2025, meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney, prompting Carney to firmly reject the idea, stating, “Canada is not for sale.”
The two states have also been locked in a tariff battle. Trump initially announced a 25% tariff on Canadian goods, citing concerns over border security, fentanyl trafficking, and migration. Canada retaliated by imposing 25% counter-tariffs on $30 billion worth of US goods. It has since paused some of these tariffs, but the issue is far from resolved.
Amid rising tensions, Canada said it was reexamining its ties with the United States, which included reconsidering the purchase of F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter jets.
Canada ordered 88 fifth-generation F-35A fighters from the US in 2023. The first tranche of 16 jets, already paid for, is scheduled to arrive in the country early next year. However, amid prevailing mistrust, it said it is mulling the possibility of nixing the rest of the purchase and looking for an alternative in Europe instead.
Against that backdrop, Canada’s talks with the US on participating in the Golden Dome missile shield sparked interest.
The Canadian admission comes days after Mark Carney and US Vice President JD Vance recently met in Rome. Following the meeting, Carney wrote on X: “We spoke about building a new economic and security relationship between Canada and the United States — one that addresses immediate trade pressures, strengthens our defence cooperation, and secures our shared border. We’re strongest when we work together.”
Whether it means the end of the diplomatic tussle remains to be seen.
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