Here's what Donald Trump's £130,000,000,000 'Golden Dome' reminds us of
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Cartoonish, Star Wars, The Simpsons and Harry Potter – this is what Donald Trump's £130 billion 'Golden Dome' plan looks like.
The US President plans to splash out £130 billion on a 'Golden Dome' defence system that looks like something out of a Stephen King novel.
He is keen to spend the equivalent of Ukraine's GDP on the missile defence shield to fend off attacks from US enemies like Russia and China.
Trump unveiled the dome plan in a bizarre press conference in the Oval Office yesterday, flanked by a cartoonish cardboard version of the proposed system.
The plan is to launch US weapons into space for the first time to neutralise missiles.
Despite the serious implications of the Golden Dome, its design has raised some eyebrows.
People told Metro it reminds them of The Simpsons when a huge dome appears over Springfield after it becomes too polluted.
The dome in The Simpsons Movie is lowered by an army of helicopters, while the Trump defence system will utilise more hardcore weapons set to be built in Alaska, Florida, Georgia and Indiana.
While Trump's system won't be a physical structure placed above the entire US, the drawing resembles the menacing dome trapping a town and its inhabitants in Stephen King's 'Under the Dome' 2009 novel.
King's dome is also invisible, cutting people off from the outside world.
It is also deadly, killing one person instantly when they venture too close to the shield.
People joked that the Golden Dome looks like a scene out of Star Wars 'The Phantom Menace,' which is not that far-fetched.
Trump is not the first US president who has dreamt of a missile defence system – Ronald Reagan famously announced the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) during the Cold War, nicknamed the Star Wars program.
Just like adopting the MAGA slogan from Reagan word by word, Trump appears to have been inspired by his predecessor's Star Wars plan.
Some said it looks like a highlighter cap used at hairdressers', a contact lens, the dining pods that sprang up on UK streets during the coronavirus, or the Eden Project – basically anything spherical.
The shape is the only thing the Golden Dome and the Eden Project have in common.
Whereas the missile system is designed to destroy, the Eden Project in Cornwall houses thousands of plants collected from different climates and environments worldwide for people to admire.
It hosts the Eden Sessions live outdoor festival every summer with a star-studded line up.
It is hard to unsee how much the Golden Dome resembles the protective shield Hogwarts' professors spell around the school in Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2.
POTUS said: 'Once fully constructed, the Golden Dome will be capable of intercepting missiles even if they are launched from other sides of the world and even if they are launched from space,' he said.
'And we will have the best system ever built.'
Trump's Golden Dome is inspired by Israel's Iron Dome land defence system, which shoots down rockets aimed at Israel. It was activated when tensions flared between the armed group Hezbollah and Israel last summer.
Trump's ambition is to have the system up and running before the end of his term in 2029.
While the dome might seem megalomaniac to anyone in the UK, Trump's administration is pushing ahead with it full steam. More Trending
An initial $25 billion has been set aside by the US Congress in next year's budget for the project. Its progress will be overseen by General Michael A.Guetlein, the US Space Force's vice chief of space operations.
And unsurprisingly, Trump took full credit for the project.
He told reporters he had suggested the new comprehensive missile system to US military chiefs rather than the other way around.
Elon Musk's SpaceX, Palantir and Anduril have emerged as the top choices to build the key components for the dome system.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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Yet those same polls suggest a majority of the general population support American universities and don't approve of his proposed funding opinion aside, the practicality of achieving such a fundamental reordering of America's system of higher education, even with all the tools at the federal government's disposal, is a daunting to Mr Wolfson, however, repairing what he says is the damage being done to academic independence will be equally challenging. A growing number of members of the American Association of University Professors fear the consequences of expressing political views or conducting disfavoured research."The destruction is real," argues Mr Wolfson. "Even if the courts step in, there will still be a massive undermining of the higher education project in this country due to Trump's reckless, reckless moves."Mr Hess, who has pushed for conservative education reform for years, is less concerned. 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