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Robert Costa
National political reporter covering the White House, Congress and Campaigns
Vice President Pence refused Tuesday to rule out the idea of deploying nuclear weapons in space, saying the current ban on their use was "in the interest of all countries, "but that the question should be decided on" the principle that peace passes by force. "
"What we need to do is make sure we guarantee the common defense of the people of the United States of America, and that's the president's determination here," Pence said in an interview with the Washington Post, the question of whether nuclear weapons should be banned from orbit.
Pence added, "What we want is to continue to advance the principle that peace passes by force."
This new positioning comes as the Trump administration plans to break out of a major pact on nuclear weapons with Russia and possibly strengthen US military operations in the skies by forming a "space force".
The 1967 Outer Space Treaty banned weapons of mass destruction in space, including nuclear weapons, and prevented the arms race between the United States and the United States. former Soviet Union to enter the space.
Pence said the 1967 treaty "prohibits weapons of mass destruction in space, but does not prohibit military activities." In fact, this gives countries sufficient leeway to protect their interests in Canada. security for space, and for the moment we see no need to change the treaty. "
In recent days, President Trump has indicated his willingness to withdraw the United States from long-standing treaties or to renegotiate them. Trump told reporters Saturday in Nevada that the United States would pull out of a historic 1987 arms control agreement with the former Soviet Union, persuaded that it was the only way in which the United States would be successful. prevented the development of its own weapons and that Russia had violated the pact.
Pence's remarks were made on Tuesday at the Post's "Transformers: Space" policy summit at the newspaper's Washington headquarters, where he outlined the Trump administration's plans for space for the year to come. In August, Pence announced that the administration hoped to establish the Space Force as the sixth branch of the US military by 2020, the first since the creation of the Air Force after the Second World War.
Later on Tuesday, the National Space Council, convened by the White House and chaired by the Vice President, met at the University of National Defense. He will send a number of recommendations to Trump regarding the creation of an American Space Command to oversee space activities.
The Space Force could, however, face resistance on Capitol Hill, where some conservative Republicans are reluctant to support a new radical federal program. The Air Force estimated that Space Force could cost $ 3 billion in the first year and that it would probably need $ 13 billion in the first five years. Some military leaders have called the proposal too costly and too cumbersome.
Speaking at the The Post event, Representative Don Beyer (D-Va.) Said many members of Congress had a wait-and-see view of the proposed space force.
Pence claimed that he and Trump wanted the next defense spending cycle to include "a language that allows the creation of the US Space Force and a department as the sixth branch of the military service. ".
On the GOP's reluctance to allow more federal spending, Pence said, "I would just like to ask my former colleagues in Congress:" What price freedom? "
Pence argued that the Space Force was essential to US national security while China and Russia were expanding their presence in space and to "ensure that America remains militarily as dominant in the US Space that we are here on Earth ". ensure the safety of civilian missions to "put the American boots back on the moon" and "see the Americans land on Mars".
"In 2015, China essentially constituted its own space force. The same year, Russia assigned part of its aerospace division to a space force, "said Pence. "What President Trump has initiated here, in a very real sense, as the United States continues to play a leading role in technology, innovation, and military might, in terms of organizational structure. our competitors are already doing.
Russia and China are making huge efforts to fight space wars and develop technologies and weapons designed to neutralize US missile defense satellites and allow soldiers to communicate and monitor their opponents, according to reports from the United States. year of the Secure World Foundation. the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
As Pence spoke on Tuesday with a measured tone, Trump turned the Space Force into a rallying cry during his campaign events in the weeks leading up to the November mid-term elections.
"So we have the army, the navy, the air force, the marines, the coastguards, but we have the air force. We will now have the space force because it is a whole – we need it. We need it, "said Trump this summer at a rally in Minnesota, as the crowd chanted:" Space Force!
Pence rejected the suggestion that Trump's approach might have given the Space Force a splinter.
Trump was "able to communicate this in a way that captured the imagination of the American people," he said.
Christian Davenport contributed to this report.
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