"It is not enough to merely have an American presence in space, we must have American dominance in space," President Donald Trump said at a meeting of the National Space Council on Monday.
On live TV, Trump directed the Department of Defense to create the Space Force as the sixth branch of the US Armed Forces. CBS News posted a clip of the announcement on Twitter, which you can watch below.
"We are going to have the air force and we are going to have the space force": President Trump discusses plans for "sixth branch of the armed forces" at Nat'l Space Council meeting https://t.co/BU6U5hnobW pic.twitter.com/W0QgSnCeLQ
— CBS News (@CBSNews) June 18, 2018
Trump previously floated the idea of a Space Force when addressing US Marines in March. "My new national strategy for space recognizes that space is a war-fighting domain," he said. He told them he was thinking about creating a "Space Force" similar to the US Air Force -- the audience chuckled.
But today it became apparent that his Space Force is real.
Still, not everyone on the internet is taking it seriously.
The Space Force will make The Galaxy Great Again!
— Cameron Grant (@coolghost101) June 18, 2018
#SpaceForce pic.twitter.com/MID05r6l38
"Hello? Yes, this is Space Force." pic.twitter.com/AJ07zc8Fsh
— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) June 18, 2018
The White House didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.