Donald Trump admits he single-handedly moved Space Command headquarters

Months after he left the White House, former US president Donald Trump finally confirmed on Friday what many political leaders in Colorado have suspected for long: He single-handedly decided to move the headquarters of the US Space Command from Colorado Springs to Alabama.

The US Air Force stated in the final week of Trump’s administration that Space Command’s headquarters will be moved from Peterson Air Force Base to Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama.

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Since then, Democratic and Republican politicians in Colorado have opposed the plan, accusing Trump of being behind it. Huntsville is in Rep. Mo Brooks’ district, a Republican and ardent Trump supporter who spearheaded efforts in January to prevent President Joe Biden’s victory over Trump in the 2020 election from being certified.

While talking on “Rick & Bubba,” a nationally syndicated radio show in Alabama, Trump confessed that he was the one who decided to relocate the headquarters but mistook Space Command for Space Force, a different branch of the military.

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“Space Force — I sent to Alabama,” Trump said, according to Boston Herald reports. “I hope you know that. (They) said they were looking for a home and I single-handedly said, ‘Let’s go to Alabama.’ They wanted it. I said, ‘Let’s go to Alabama. I love Alabama.’”

Rep. Doug Lamborn, a Republican from Colorado Springs, claimed Trump’s comments were “an admission” that the relocation to Colorado Springs was “based solely on politics and personal preference — not the Air Force’s basing criteria or national security.”

“This proves that claims by the Department of the Air Force that the decision was ‘merit-based’ are completely false,” Lamborn further added. “This has been my concern all along and calls into question the entire (headquarters) selection process.”

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Separate investigations of the Air Force’s decision are being conducted by the US Government Accountability Office and the Department of Defense’s Office of Inspector General.

“Keeping US Space Command in Colorado means protecting our national security,” Gov. Jared Polis and Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera, both Democrats, said in a statement Friday, “but it’s clear that the former president — now through his own admission — made this misguided decision for political or personal purposes.”