Colorado is once again in President Donald Trump’s crosshairs, and this latest act of retribution is going to especially sting one of the most conservative cities and counties in the state. The decision to move U.S. Space Command headquarters from Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Alabama, is not just a political maneuver; it represents a direct economic and strategic blow to the region. Colorado Springs and El Paso County voters overwhelmingly supported Trump in the November 2024 election, yet it will be hard for even his most ardent supporters to get behind the loss of $1 billion in annual economic impact and 1,400 high-paying jobs.
Trump’s announcement on Tuesday cited two reasons for the relocation (Herald, Sept. 3). “The problem I have with Colorado – one of the big problems – they do mail-in voting,” Trump stated. “They went to all mail-in voting so they have automatically crooked elections and we can’t have that. When a state is for mail-in voting that means they want dishonest elections.” He also mentioned that Colorado as a whole favored his political opponent, Kamala Harris, as a significant factor.
Once again, the President’s claims are based on a false premise. Colorado’s mail-in voting system has been recognized as one of the most secure and efficient in the nation. Repeated bipartisan audits of the 2020 election have consistently proved no fraudulent activity took place, nor were there any fake voters. Colorado’s election integrity has long been a source of bipartisan pride, a fact Trump chooses to ignore in favor of a baseless narrative.
In another rare moment of unity, the entire Colorado Congressional delegation – Republicans (including CD4 Rep. Lauren Boebert) and Democrats alike immediately condemned the proposed relocation. We received an email from Rep. Jeff Hurd announcing their shared outrage in a strongly worded statement to fight a decision that is hurting Colorado. Their united front echoes their strong opposition to a previous Trump decision to withhold critical water project funding for the state (Herald, Aug. 19). This recurring pattern makes it clear that loyalty to his political agenda, not logic or national interest, is the driving force behind his actions.
The U.S. Space Command oversees military operations in space, satellite security, and coordination with NASA and allied nations. Its location near military installations and advanced aerospace infrastructure has been critical to maintaining U.S. technological superiority. The Alabama delegation cites a strong aerospace industry as a reason to move, but theirs pales in comparison to the dominance Colorado Springs’ exerts as a longtime strategic hub for national security and space operations.
The Colorado delegation’s bottom line is that moving the Space Command headquarters will severely harm our state and nation by weakening our national security “at the worst possible time.” As the U.S. faces escalating threats from China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, disrupting the operational capacity of Space Command would be a dangerous misstep. The move would set the military back years, waste billions of taxpayer dollars, and, according to the Department of Defense’s Inspector General, will impede our military’s operational capability for years by forcing a massive relocation of specialized personnel and their families – many of whom will not move and their successors will have to be found – interrupting crucial training and infrastructure development. Former Colorado Springs’ Republican Mayor, John Suthers, said, “For a president that's talked about cutting the budget and things like that, it really makes no sense from an economic standpoint. It makes no sense from a national security standpoint.”
The Herald’s editorial board concurs with this assessment. We wrote about this issue in November 2024, “Locate agencies for effectiveness, not politics,” (Herald, Nov. 23, 2024), when Trump was newly in office and considering reversing a Biden-era decision to keep the headquarters in Colorado Springs. While Trump authorized the creation of the U.S. Space Command in 2019, his repeated attempts to use its location as a political tool prove a troubling pattern. We commend Colorado’s Congressional delegation for coming together to fight for what is right for our state and nation, putting strategy and security ahead of politics.
