Bill Foster has strongly opposed Donald Trump’s Golden Dome Defense program. On Wednesday, the Democratic Representative from Illinois spoke on the House floor about how the ‘unreliable’ project will end up wasting taxpayers’ money.
Golden Dome is an ambitious defense plan by Trump that aims to create a network of satellites in Earth’s orbit that would not only detect but also intercept ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles from enemies.
The $175 billion project was announced by the President in May last year. The defense program is one of the reasons why Trump is desperate to acquire Greenland. The island’s strategic location in the Arctic Circle is crucial for the construction of the Golden Dome.
‘Doesn’t Have A Chance Of Working’: Bill Foster Slams Trump’s Golden Dome Defense Project (America wants to live in a bubble that will pop out when someone coughs let alone protect us from a nuclear annihilation! Orangutan’s wasted efforts continue!) https://t.co/gvSbYpqos3
— EriUhuru (@NhnaNharnetna) January 16, 2026
However, Foster, known for his work as a physicist, believes the government might be getting ahead of itself. The politician argued that the system is being constructed without being tested against countermeasures.
He also highlighted how experts have already warned Congress that the defense program might not be reliable even if it becomes operational. Foster told the House, “This is a system that has never been tested against countermeasures that we know our adversaries have.”
He added, “For 40 years, physicists have been patiently explaining to members of Congress, members of the administrations that systems like this will never work at the reliability level that they need.”
The 70-year-old further claimed that the program is only going to waste billions of dollars: “We don’t have hundreds of billions of dollars to waste on a system that you can calculate from elementary principles, doesn’t have a chance of working, and has failed the majority of times it’s tried.”
Foster then compared the plan to the Netflix film A House of Dynamite, which revolved around the government’s efforts to stop a missile attack on Chicago. He announced, “For those who have not, please take the time to see a recently produced movie called A House of Dynamite.”
The Democrat concluded, “That [film] actually talks about what a modern nuclear war would look like from the point of view of the participants who have to make those decisions and the equipment and provisions they have to aid those decisions.”
Reminder: The Golden Dome doesn’t exist and has yet to be shown to be feasible. https://t.co/EyoL8CKAmW
— Scott Greenfield (@ScottGreenfield) January 15, 2026
This is not the first time that Foster has criticized the Golden Dome project. Earlier in July 2025, he was a part of a group of Democratic lawmakers who urged Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to abandon the program. In a letter addressed to the Pentagon, the Congressmen expressed that the system could lead to a nuclear arms race.
Countries like Russia, China, and North Korea have already expressed their concerns about the construction of the dome and claimed that it violates the Outer Space Treaty, which vouches for the peaceful use of space.
Russia and China released a joint statement following the announcement of the program and said, “The two Sides oppose the attempts of individual countries to use outer space for armed confrontation and will counter security policies and activities aimed at achieving military superiority, as well as at officially defining and using outer space as a ‘warfighting domain.’”
But Trump remains undeterred and aims to complete the project before the end of his second term in 2029.
