A majority of Americans don’t support President Trump’s proposed Space Force, a new branch of the military that would protect U.S. assets in space, according to a new CNN poll.
Trump called for the creation of Space Force earlier this summer, and Vice President Pence made the official request last week. It now awaits approval by Congress.
According to the CNN poll, 55 percent of Americans don’t want Space Force, compared to 37 percent of Americans who said they do. Just half of Republicans and half of those who approve of Trump’s job performance support Space Force, a remarkably low approval rating among a base that typically supports the president by an overwhelming margin.
Among people who don’t approve of Trump’s job performance, 67 percent say they disapprove of Space Force, as well as 67 percent of college graduates and 65 percent of Democrats.
According to CNN, 47 percent of veterans approve of Space Force, compared to 50 percent who disapprove. As the network noted, 55 percent of veterans approve of Trump’s job performance.
The lack of support for Trump’s proposed Space Force mirrors the lack of support for another of the president’s pet projects: a massive military parade down the streets of the U.S. capital.
According to the Quinnipiac poll from February this year, just 26 percent of people support the plan, and three-quarters of voters said they believed the parade was a waste of taxpayer dollars. While 58 percent of Republicans said they support the parade itself, 52 percent of Republicans said they did not believe it was a good use of government funds.
A majority of American voters — 61 percent — said they disapproved of the president’s plan for a military parade.
The administration has struggled to justify the ballooning costs of the parade to critics who believe it’s a waste of money. Last month, the Department of Defense said the parade was expected to cost between $12 million, but a Department of Defense official told CNBC Thursday that that estimate was off by about $80 million. The parade, which is set for November 10, is actually expected to cost around $92 million.
That estimate, according to CNBC, includes “security, transportation of parade assets, aircraft, as well as temporary duty, or TDY, for troops.” Right now, the plan includes “approximately eight tanks, as well as other armored vehicles, including Bradleys, Strykers and M113s,” the official told the network.