Defense: Will the United States Achieve the Military Supremacy It Claims?

While China, Russia, and the United States are reshaping the world, President Trump is engaging in a perilous exercise of overvaluing his legacy. He has managed to convince us that he chose to withdraw from NATO, when he can no longer remain. In reality, he finds himself in the same position as Mikhail Gorbachev when he withdrew from the Warsaw Pact: on the brink of disaster.

During the first year of his second term, President Donald Trump announced his intention to propel the United States armed forces into a position of undeniable superiority.

• The Golden Dome (May 20, 2025)

The US Golden Dome is intended to protect not just the United States, but the entire American continent, by countering “the threat of ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles.” It is inspired by Reagan’s “Star Wars” project and takes its name from Israel’s Iron Dome. This mission was entrusted to General Michael Guetlein, and a budget of $175 billion was allocated for it [1].

According to the executive order, the Golden Dome should include: Hypersonic and ballistic tracking space-based sensors; Space-based interceptors for the acceleration phase; Sub-layer and terminal-phase interception capabilities; A guard layer of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), itself to be composed of seven layers to be implemented in four phases from 2026 to 2030; Capabilities intended for pre-launch and propulsion phases; so-called “non-kinetic” capabilities to reinforce the system.

• The War Department (September 5, 2025)

President Trump renamed the Department of Defense the Department of War, as it was until the end of World War II. In addition, he initiated a reform of the armed forces to develop “the warrior spirit.” He announced that, henceforth, promotions would be based solely on merit, without regard to ethnic quotas. We recall the remarks about overweight, armchair officers who were encouraged to resign before being dismissed.

• The Golden Fleet (December 22, 2025)

Faced with the development of the Chinese navy, President Trump announced the construction of the Golden Fleet. Initially, ten battleships of the Trump class will be built. They will be able to carry conventional guns and nuclear-armed cruise missiles.

• The Military Budget (January 7, 2026)

Finally, President Trump announced his intention to increase the Defense budget by approximately 50%. This would bring it in line with the combined defense budgets of the rest of the world.

The United States has published both its 2026 National Security Strategy [2] and its 2026 National Defense Strategy, but it is keeping its 2026 Nuclear Posture Review secret.

Washington is leaving its nuclear strategy shrouded in mystery. The Golden Dome project, if realized, calls into question the very idea of balance. The treaty that established the balance of terror with Russia expires on February 5. The United States has not wished to resume negotiations.

In any case, these grandiose projects are unlikely to materialize. The construction of the Golden Dome is still only a sketch, the architecture of which has not yet been designed. The Golden Fleet project is impossible, in the short and medium term, for American shipyards.

As for the budgetary aspects, they involve sums that are unattainable in the current state of the economy. The Trump administration’s primary challenge is the excessive debt of the United States, inherited from previous administrations [3]. It has exceeded $38 trillion. The announcement of $1 trillion in investment in the United States by Saudi Arabia and $1.4 trillion by the United Arab Emirates is nothing more than a smokescreen [4]. Besides the fact that this money represents nothing compared to the US public debt, Saudi Arabia has not yet disbursed any of what it announced. Its coffers are empty. All its cash is absorbed by its Saudi Vision 2030 project (the construction of NEOM and The Line).

In reality, we are witnessing the fall of the American Empire, modeled on the fall of the Soviet Empire. Mikhail Gorbachev first dismantled the Warsaw Pact before acknowledging the collapse of the USSR [5]. Today, President Trump is dismantling the Atlantic Alliance, hoping he won’t have to witness the end of the United States of America. His bluster shouldn’t impress us.

https://www.voltairenet.org/article223603.html

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