Trump promises to create Space National Guard, demands more NATO spending

WASHINGTON — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump today pledged to create a Space National Guard if he is voted in for another term as president in November — a move that would reverse the Biden administration’s current plans that would see Air National Guard members with space backgrounds transfer into the Space Force.

“Now that Space Force is up and running, I agree with your leadership — you want this very badly, but I agree — that the time has come to create a space National Guard as the primary combat reserve of the US Space Force,” Trump told the National Guard Association (NGAUS) during the organization’s annual conference in Detroit.

NGAUS has a long tradition of inviting presidential contenders to speak at the event; the organization also invited Trump’s Democratic rival Kamala Harris, who did not accept, according to the group’s website.

The organization, along with top National Guard brass, has vehemently opposed the current Air Force proposal to effectively fold the some 1,000 Air National Guard personnel with space-focused units — who hail from seven states — into the active-duty Space Force. The idea is to create a flexible system that allows Guard members to transfer between full- and part-time service. The plan also has been trashed by all 50 state governors, plus those of five US territories.

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has pushed back against the opposition, calling the service’s legislative proposal necessary to make the Space Force effective and describing the Guard’s negative reaction as “over the top.”

Taking credit for the creation of the Space Force in 2019, Trump called the newest military service “a big deal” and “one of my proudest achievements of my first term.” (Trump held the US presidency from 2017 to 2021). And he promised to sign “historic legislation” to create a Space National Guard, noting that the move has the support of Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.

Rubio was one of 10 senators from both parties to offer legislation earlier this year to create a Space National Guard, but Congress is divided on the issue.

Over the course of his hour-long speech, Trump also criticized European allies for not “paying up” to properly support NATO —a claim he has continued to make for many years, along with the assertion that allies “owe” the US for its contributions to allied defense. (NATO nations do not pay the US for defense, but instead fund their own militaries country by country.)

Further, he pledged to demand that NATO allies increase their national defense budgets to equal 3 percent of their annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“I’ll insist that every NATO nation must spend at least 3 percent. You have to go up to 3 percent —  2 percent is the steal of the century, especially as we’re paying for it. You know, we pay for them. It’s just not even believable. For most NATO countries, this will represent a defense budget increase of about 30 percent,” he told the NGAUS meeting.

At their July 2023 summit in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, NATO Leaders agreed made a pledge to invest “at least” 2 percent of GDP annually for national defense.

“We affirm that in many cases, expenditure beyond 2 percent of GDP will be needed in order to remedy existing shortfalls and meet the requirements across all domains arising from a more contested security order,” the summit communique added.