Trump’s Golden Dome will cost $1.2trn — and it has holes

Despite the missile shield’s price tag – six times more than expected – it could probably be overwhelmed by a ‘peer or near-peer adversary’

China's production of advanced missiles shot up in 2025 by the largest amount since Chinese leader Xi Jinping rose to power in 2013, a sign of Beijing's success in expanding its formidable military to rival the United States ahead of President Donald Trump's highly anticipated summit with Xi this week.

That’s more than six times the $175 billion price tag the president provided last May.

The nonpartisan CBO report, published Tuesday, is described as an analysis that reflects “one illustrative approach rather than an estimate of a specific Administration proposal.”