Trump orders Pentagon to create Space Force

President Donald Trump appeared to surprise Defense Department officials Monday with his request for a sixth branch of the U.S. military: the Space Force. “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,” the president said during remarks at the White House. “We are going to have the Air Force and we are going to have the Space Force, separate but equal.” Trump signed a directive ordering the Pentagon to start the process to create the Space Force, but Congress would have to provide the authority and funding for the initiative. Although the government started researching the ramifications of a dedicated space defense program earlier this year, the Pentagon does not have an estimate on cost or the effect on other branches and departments that now share aspects of the U.S. military’s space program.