Trump Just Showed Off The New U.S. Space Force Uniforms—And Everyone's Doing A Double Take

President Donald Trump had critics doing a double take after he shared an image of the design for the new U.S. Space Force service dress uniforms which were apparently inspired by the film Starship Troopers, which intentionally drew on imagery associated with Nazi Germany.

Space Force is a new service branch Trump reorganized when he signed the United States Space Force Act as part of the National Defense Authorization Act during his first term. His critics viewed it as little more than a branding project or an attempt to forcibly create a legacy.

Prior to Trump’s expensive reorganization, the majority of Space Force duties fell under other branches of the military, with most under the Air Force, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The logistics of creating the infrastructure for the new service branch—while not creating any new military functionality—was budgeted at over $15 billion by the first Trump administration.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the Space Force's new uniforms were "inspired by the discipline and functionality of the Starship Trooper uniform" that has been "modernized for the guardians of the space domain."

You can see his post below.

@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social

The film, however, was conceived as a satire and warning about fascism, militarism and jingoistic nationalism. Director Paul Verhoeven acknowledged deliberately referencing Leni Riefenstahl's Nazi propaganda film Triumph of the Will.

In fact, Verhoeven told The Guardian in 2018 that he "was using Riefenstahl to point out, or so I thought, that these heroes and heroines were straight out of Nazi propaganda."

The film's antifascist message was completely ignored by Trump, and others are downright unnerved by this choice.

The U.S. Space Force has previously been the target of public mockery because of its oddball pageantry.

In 2022, the Space Force officially introduced its branch anthem that critics said practically sounds like a parody. The Space Force song—titled “Semper Supra," Latin for "Always Above"—was officially presented during the 2022 Air Force Association Air, Space and Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Maryland.

In an official statement, the Space Force said the song was created "to capture the esprit de corps of both current and future Guardians, and intends to bring together service members by giving them a sense of pride." The lyrics reference "guardians beyond the blue," "warfighters brave and true," "boldly reaching into space .... no limit to our sky."