World

Op-Ed: Trump touts new military asset — A ‘Super-Duper missile’

Published

May 17, 2020

“We are building, right now, incredible military equipment at a level that nobody has ever seen before. We have no choice. We have to do it with the adversaries we have out there. We have, I call it the super-duper missile, and I heard the other night — 17 times faster than what they have right now,” Trump said at a White House event to sign the 2020 Armed Forces Day Proclamation, according to The Hill.

“You take the fastest missile we have right now — you’ve heard Russia has five times, and China is working on five or six times. We have one 17 times. And it’s just gotten the go-ahead,” Trump added.

Trump’s off-the-cuff remarks were made during a Defense Department presentation of the official flag of the military’s newest branch of service – The Space Force, according to the Associated Press.

The Space Force, established in December 2019, is the first new military service since the U.S. Air Force was established in 1947. The dark blue and white flag includes elements intended to evoke the vast recesses of outer space.

President Donald J. Trump, joined by Department of Defense Secretary Mark Esper and US Space Force Senior Enlisted Advisor CMSgt Roger Towberman, signs an Armed Forces Day Proclamation Thursday, May 15, 2020, in the Oval Office of the White House.

Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead

To say Trump’s remarks caught the Pentagon and Defense Department officials off-guard wo0uld be an understatement. Even White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany was unable to elaborate on what Trump was talking about, according to CNN, and referred reporters to the Pentagon.

However, four hours after the flag presentation, Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman did not directly address the President’s remarks but confirmed in a tweet that the Pentagon is developing hypersonic missiles which it defines as being able to travel five times the speed of sound.

The Department of Defense is working on developing a range of hypersonic missiles to counter our adversaries. May 15, 2020

Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Robert Carver told CNN, “We will not discuss capabilities of any systems we may or may not have under development.”

And, of course, social media users have had fun with the “super-duper missile” remark. Here are a couple of remarks from Twitter users:

My two guesses on the Super Duper missile:

1) It's a classified program Trump wasn't supposed to talk about

2) He kinda made it up and his staff just said “yes” when he mentioned it

— Alex Ward (@AlexWardVox) May 15, 2020

And one last Tweet, to sort of sum it all up –

The president of US is boasting about a new “super duper missile.” We’re totally in the Idiocracy timeline.

— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) May 15, 2020

In this article:armed forces day, Donald trump, Prntagon, space force, superduper missile

Written By Karen Graham

We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our dear friend Karen Graham, who served as Editor-at-Large at Digital Journal. She was 78 years old. Karen's view of what is happening in our world was colored by her love of history and how the past influences events taking place today. Her belief in humankind's part in the care of the planet and our environment has led her to focus on the need for action in dealing with climate change. It was said by Geoffrey C. Ward, "Journalism is merely history's first draft." Everyone who writes about what is happening today is indeed, writing a small part of our history.