President Donald Trump praised Alabama’s Republican congressional delegation for their leadership and persistence in ensuring the new U.S. Space Command Headquarters will return to it’s rightful home in Huntsville.
Trump made the relocation announcement Tuesday in the Oval Office. He was joined by Alabama’s U.S. Senators Tommy Tuberville and Katie Britt, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, and Alabama Congressmen Mike Rogers, Robert Aderholt, Gary Palmer, Barry Moore and Dale Strong.
“From the standpoint I know the people of Alabama, they are great people,” Trump said.
“Work hard, and there’s no games, and they’re very proud of it. And I would say they fought harder for it than anybody else. Also, a lot of states, five states, really wanted it, but they wanted it more. And, I kid you not, when I say that these people, they spoke to me a lot. That’s all they wanted to talk about.”
“They didn’t want to talk about the weather. They only wanted to talk about moving to this location, moving to Alabama, Huntsville in particular. So we’re honored to do it. They really wanted it badly, and they got it,” President Trump said.
In 2021 when the U.S. Air Force selected Redstone Arsenal as the preferred site, identifying Huntsville as objectively best suited for the mission. That decision seemed to be final until then President Joe Biden ultimately reversed the process in July 2023, opting instead to locate the headquarters in Colorado Springs.
Biden’s decision led to Alabama’s congressional delegation calling for investigations into the process.
In March 2023, Yellowhammer News published a non-public, 87-page Government Accountability Office report showing Redstone ranked first in both the Air Force’s Evaluation and Selection phases, while Colorado Springs ranked fifth in the final selection phase.
“So thank you all very much. You are going to leave me alone now,” Trump quipped to those lawmakers present at the announcement. “You’re not going to call me anymore and talk about this subject, right? You promise? You’ll start something else. But I just want to congratulate you. It’s a very big deal.”
Trump also said during the press conference that Space Command in Huntsville would play a key role in building the “Golden Dome” missile-defense shield.
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee
