Return to the Table of Contents
HARRIS & BIDEN: Ban on Anti-Satellite Missile Tests
Speaking at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on April 18, 2022, VP Harris announced that the Biden-Harris administration — in an effort to make demilitarization an “international norm for responsible behavior in space” — had decided to unilaterally terminate America’s testing of anti-satellite (ASAT) missiles, a practice known to generate debris in outer space. Said Harris in her remarks: “Simply put, these tests are dangerous, and we will not conduct them. This debris presents a risk to the safety of our astronauts, our satellites and our growing commercial presence…. Even a piece of debris as small as a grain of sand could cause serious damage.”
While the Biden-Harris administration was declaring the end of America’s anti-satellite missile testing, the counterpart ASAT-testing programs of China, India, and Russia would continue unabated.
TRUMP: Military, National Security, & NATO
On January 27, 2017, President Trump signed a memorandum authorizing the expansion and rebuilding of the U.S. military. This was vital because in the latter years of the Obama-Biden administration, the military had faced a severe shortage of ammunition. As Col. John Venable, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said: “By the end of fiscal year 2020, the Trump administration will have acquired more than four times the number of GPS-guided munitions than were acquired during the eight years of the Obama administration.”
Also during the course of his presidency, Trump:
TRUMP: Upgraded America’s Missile Defense
In 2018, the U.S. allocated a record $11.5 billion for the Missile Defense Agency. In a January 2019 statement, President Trump said: “As President, my first duty is the defense of our country…. I will accept nothing less for our nation than the most effective, cutting-edge missile defense systems…. We are committed to establishing a missile defense program that can shield every city in the United States. And we will never negotiate away our right to do this.”
TRUMP: Sold PATRIOT Missiles to Poland
In July 2017, the Trump administration agreed to sell PATRIOT missile-defense systems ― designed to detect, target, and destroy incoming missiles and aircraft ― to Poland. This move countered the Obama-Biden administration’s decision to break its pledge to provide Poland with those systems.
TRUMP: Pressured European Members to Contribute More Money to NATO
Throughout 2017 and 2018, President Trump pressured European leaders to contribute more money to NATO’s defense capabilities. He noted that NATO members had failed to live up to their pledges to contribute at least 2 percent of their gross domestic product to NATO’s defense and anti-terror capabilities. As a result of Trump’s pressure campaign, 26 of the 27 NATO countries (other than the U.S.) increased their NATO defense spending between 2017 and 2019.