The Colorado Springs mayor revealed new statements President Donald Trump made ahead of the decision to move Space Command to Alabama in a letter to the secretary of the Air Force sent earlier this month. 

In the letter, Mayor John Suthers describes two conversations that give insight into Trump’s reasoning behind moving the command in charge of space warfare, a portion of the Space Force operations in town. 

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During the second conversation in February 2020, Trump asked Suthers if he was a Republican and asked Suthers his chances of winning Colorado during the upcoming election. When Suthers said the chances were “uncertain” and Trump “seemed perturbed,” according to the letter, obtained by Colorado Politics.  

Trump then asked a Space Force officer if Space Command should stay in Colorado Springs, the high-ranking officer said, “Absolutely, Mr. President.” 

The former president responded saying he would name a permanent home for Space Command after the election.  

 “I want to see how it turns out,” he said, the letter said. Trump later admitted on an Alabama-based radio in 2021 show he single-handedly picked Huntsville, Alabama, as the new home for Space Command. 

Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper thanked Suthers for his letter on Twitter Thursday, saying the decision to move Space Command can’t stand. 

“Trump tried to punish Colorado for not voting for him in 2020 and it seems clear he moved Space Command as retribution.”  

Suthers’ letter was first reported by The Washington Post in a column by an influential beltway foreign-affairs thinker who also said the White House may reverse Trump’s decision to move the command. 

An unnamed White House official told The Washington Post the Biden administration shares military leaders’ concerns that moving the command could disrupt “space operations at a critical moment for our national security.”

The White House statement follows comments from the Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall at the Air and Space Association’s Warfare Symposium this month that he had hoped make a decision earlier on a home for Space Command, but additional analysis on the decision was required, Military.com reported.  

Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville, a republican, said on Twitter the column was an example of President Joe Biden trying to put politics before the military. He noted military analysis rated Huntsville ahead of Colorado Springs as a permanent home on factors, such as education and cost of living. 

“The best place for Space Command is in Huntsville. This is not my opinion this is fact,” he wrote on Twitter.

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This story will be updated. 

Colorado Politics Reporter Ernest Luning contributed to this story. 

Secretary Kendall – Space Command letter