Despite it being the marquee defense policy of the second Trump administration, the Pentagon went to lengths to ensure that top U.S. military officials avoided talking publicly about the president’s push for a next-generation “Golden Dome for America” missile defense shield this week at the Space & Missile Defense Symposium.
According to event organizers, the office of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth banned Pentagon officials at the symposium in Huntsville, Alabama, from discussing Golden Dome for America. However, defense officials did discuss the initiative in depth during a private Missile Defense Agency-sponsored meeting with private contractors on Thursday.
The meeting, which only government employees and contractors could attend, reportedly covered how the Pentagon plans to build the Golden Dome, as well as detailing the weapons systems the project will be constructed to defend against.
President Trump announced further details about the Golden Dome initiative back in May, where he confirmed the project would cost around $175 billion and would be completed by the end of his term. The project, aimed at creating a comprehensive missile defense shield around the U.S., will be led by U.S. Space Force Gen. Michael Guetlein.
The decision ruffled reporters and attendees who were eager to hear new details about the fledgling missile defense project. The Golden Dome gag order is part of a broader crackdown on Pentagon communication policy following a series of high-profile leaks earlier this year.
Late last month, the Pentagon also issued a ban on defense officials participating in think tank and research organization events, a common platform for security officers to share information and receive expert feedback. Mr. Hegseth also pulled several top Pentagon staffers from participating in the Aspen Security Conference in July, citing the “evil of globalism.”
Retired Army Lt. Gen. Daniel Karbler, who served as the commander of the United States Army Space and Missile Defense Command from 2019-2024, says communication has to be key when it comes to Golden Dome.
“We gotta be able to talk about it. We have to be able to share with the American public what we are intending to do with Golden Dome for America. We gotta share with the industry what the architecture is going to look like. We have to share with the services what is going to be called upon for their forces,” Mr. Karbler said on the latest episode of the Threat Status Weekly Podcast. “We have gotta do a good job at just communicating.”
The Pentagon’s secrecy over Golden Dome details could be explained by spying concerns. Defense officials have long sounded the alarm over infiltration by U.S. rivals, China and Russia in particular, who seek to gain advanced knowledge of U.S. defense systems.
Learning planned locations of Golden Dome sensors and missile defense systems could give China, which is rapidly developing next-generation hypersonic missiles, a leg up in circumventing any future U.S. missile defense shield.
