Trump promises to 'immediately' begin construction of American 'Iron Dome'

In a speech given on Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that America will “immediately” construct an Iron Dome system for the United States.

“Here’s what we need: to immediately begin the construction of a state-of-the-art Iron Dome missile defense shield, which will be able to protect Americans,” Trump told a gathering of Republican congressmen at an event hosted by Congressional Institute.

Trump also hailed the effectiveness of Israel’s Iron Dome.

“You see that with Israel, where out of 319 rockets they knocked down just about every one of them,” Trump said, referencing Iran’s April attack, in which they launched drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles into Israel.

“So I think the United States is entitled to that,” he continued, promising that “everything will be made right here in the USA, 100%.”

Later Monday night, Trump said he had signed an executive order to begin the construction of the new missile defense system.

The executive order notes that “President Ronald Reagan endeavored to build an effective defense against nuclear attacks,” but “it was canceled before its goal could be realized.”

“The threat of attack by ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles, and other advanced aerial attacks, remains the most catastrophic threat facing the United States,” it says.

The order requires that, “within 60 days,” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will deliver to the President an “implementation plan for the next-generation missile defense shield.”

The new American Iron Dome, the order states, will be for the “defense of the United States against ballistic, hypersonic, advanced cruise missiles, and other next-generation aerial attacks from peer, near-peer, and rogue adversaries.”

The Israeli system named "Iron Dome" is only one part of a larger missile defense system, which also includes the "David's Sling" and "Arrow" systems, which have much larger ranges than the Iron Dome.

Trump is apparently using "Iron Dome" as a generic term for a missile defense shield, as the Israeli Iron Dome system with its relatively small range would not be able to protect the vast expanses of the American homeland.