I can't help but find it bitterly ironic that Trump has managed to cultivate a barely-plausible public image as an isolationist instead of the bog standard American imperialist he is, pretty much entirely by repeatedly lying to a media complex that's so pro-imperialism they can't really be bothered to call him out on it. This is particularly noticeable in stories about Trump's obscene military spending, which a GOP up to its eyeballs in defense contractor money has been more than happy to greenlight throughout both his terms in office so far.

Now, as part of a hundred and fifty billion (with a b) dollar defense spending package they want to include in Trump's multi-trillion dollar tax cut bill (that will undoubtedly be paid for by deep cuts to vital social programs), the GOP plans to earmark twenty-seven billion dollars for Trump's fantasyland "Golden Dome" missile defense project.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/golden-dome-tax-cuts-27-billion

GOP Wants $27 Billion for Trump's Golden Dome 'Fantasy' While Working to Gut Working-Class Safety Net

"As Republicans in Congress push forward with a sweeping tax and spending plan that could be be paid for in part by deep cuts to Medicaid and to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the GOP plans to add a defense package to that bill which will include "an initial $27 billion boost" for the Golden Dome desired by U.S. President Donald, according to Thursday reporting from Reuters.

Trump has said he wants an "Iron Dome for America"—something akin to Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile defense. In a speech earlier this year he referred to it as a "Golden Dome."

Experts who spoke to NPR recently said that building a Golden Dome would be more complicated than Israel's Iron Dome for multiple reasons. Dylan Spaulding, a senior scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists, earlier this week called the Golden Dome idea a "complete fantasy."

Shoutout to the folks old enough to be getting Reagan "Star Wars program" vibes here; this is an absolutely bonkers idea, to say nothing of a criminal waste of money at a time when the regime is crying poor and eyeing deep cuts to Medicaid and potentially even Social Security payments. So why the hell are Trump and the Republican Party doing it? Well, if you guessed that it's probably all a grift to make billionaire broligarch nazis who own Trump like a stamp collection even richer, you win the gold star.

"The $27 billion investment in Golden Dome will fund the building of more missile interceptors and the purchase of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) antiballistic missile batteries, according to the congressional aide. THAAD is made by Lockheed Martin," the defense contractor, Reuters reported.

According to reporting from the outlet last week, billionaire "Elon Musk's SpaceX and two partners have emerged as front-runners to win a crucial part of the Golden Dome program that would track incoming missiles."

So you caught the subtext there right? Programs like Meals on Wheels, lifesaving Medicaid, and even your grandma's Social Security check are "fraud, abuse, and waste." But funneling money to defense contractors and noted nazi supervillain Elon Musk for Trump's asinine motion picture fantasy missile defense system that won't even work, is vital supplemental defense spending.

Look, Trump sure as fuck ain't the first American president to funnel billions of dollars to his warmonger buddies through unnecessary defense spending; some would argue the American economy has basically be running on that odious practice since the Vietnam War. By that same measure however I'm going to need Very Serious People TM to stop telling me about "Donald the Dove" and pretending anything about Musk's DOGE department is related to cutting "waste, fraud, and abuse" when these jackanapes are dropping twenty-seven billion dollars are useless war toys for Trump's "First Buddy" to manage for a profit.