We hope Washington Post columnist David Ignatius is right on the mark. If so, President Joe Biden will soon announce Colorado Springs as the permanent home of Space Command’s headquarters.

Ignatius reported “the Biden administration is quietly moving to repair” Trump’s ill-advised Space Command decision, citing an unnamed White House official. If true, Biden will prove himself a serious and adept commander-in-chief who understands the dangers of mounting world tensions.

Then-President Donald Trump, on his way out of office in 2021, ordered relocation of Space Command from Colorado to Huntsville, Ala. His motives are not in question. Trump put his ego ahead of the country’s safety and security, rewarding Alabama without commonsense thought to national security.

Trump announced the dangerous decision in 2021, after losing the White House to Joe Biden. What seemed unwise back then looks dangerous in today’s geopolitical imbroglio.

The Gazette’s editorial board predicted Trump’s Space Command decision in 2020, more than a year before he issued it. Trump held a Colorado Springs rally in February 2020, where he made us read between the lines.

The day of the rally, Colorado’s Democratic Gov. Jared Polis – who was professional and cordial with Trump throughout his presidency – spoke with a member of The Gazette’s editorial board. Polis had visited with Trump earlier that day on Air Force One at the Springs-based Peterson Space Force Base – the location then and now of Space Command. Polis said he focused on convincing Trump to leave Space Command right where it was for strategic reasons.

President George W. Bush decommissioned Space Command in 2002. Trump recommissioned the operation in 2019, after China, Russia, North Korea and others increased their military space operations amid escalating hostilities toward the United States and our allies.

Though Trump revived Space Command in Colorado, his Pentagon underlings considered alternate locations for permanent basing. In doing so, they turned the command into currency for Trump reelection bid.

Polis and all members of Colorado’s congressional delegation agree Space Command should remain in Colorado Springs, where it could immediately grow in sophistication and size. High-ranking military officials, associated with Space Command, have reliably expressed the wisdom of keeping it in place. Plans to move the command have obstructed progress. Moving the Command would do more harm, at an enormous financial cost. It would continue delaying progress, leaving us to play a long-term game of catch-up in space.

After meeting with Polis in 2020, Trump spoke at the Broadmoor World Arena. He acknowledged knowing how badly Colorado wanted to keep Space Command. Instead of assurance, Trump said he would decide in the fall. That meant “after the election.” Short of outright saying it, Trump made clear his decision hinged on Colorado’s support for him in the fall.

Ignatius, a senior fellow for Harvard University’s Future of Diplomacy program, revealed old communications between Trump and Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers. The Republican mayor and former state’s attorney general told Ignatius he met with Trump in 2019, at which time the president said he would personally make the Space Command call. Suthers pitched Trump again on Space Command during the president’s 2020 visit to the Springs. Trump told Suthers, as reported by Ignatius, “I want to see how it (the election) turns out.”

As no surprise to anyone, Colorado trounced Trump in 2020. Biden won 55% of Colorado votes and Trump received 42%. Alabama, by stark contrast, favored Trump by 62% to Biden’s 36%. While Coloradans mostly rejected Trump’s “stolen election” claims, Alabama’s delegation tried to stop Congress from certifying Biden’s electoral votes.

Trump’s landslide victory in Alabama and the state’s assistance in trying to reverse the nationwide outcome, combined with his humiliation in Colorado, clinched Trump’s Space Command decision. Trump erased any doubt about his motive on an Alabama radio show, taking full responsibility for relocating Space Command to a state “I love.”

The Ignatius column, especially given the writer’s high credibility and White House connections, ignited outrage in Alabama.

“We will stay strong. And we’re going to keep this Space Command headquarters here in Alabama,” said Alabama Republican Gov. Kay Ivey. With all due respect, “this Space Command” needs to stabilize, grow and advance immediately. Threats to world peace have escalated substantially since Trump rewarded Alabama for supporting him.

“Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, weaponisation of energy and food supplies and irresponsible nuclear rhetoric, combined with China’s more aggressive stance in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, are threatening to create a world defined by danger, disorder and division,” United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wrote this month in a “refresh” of his country’s Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy.

The United States, and the rest of the free world, cannot afford risking fulfillment of Trump’s self-indulgent decision to move Space Command. By reversing this dangerous decision by a predecessor who openly disrespects him, Biden would prove his commitment to protecting our country and allies abroad. He would fix one of Trump’s most egregious misdeeds.

Colorado Springs Gazette Editorial Board