President Trump’s incantation for the U.S. to create a Space Force is politically enticing yet logically uncalled for. According to senior White House officials, starting a Space Force is not a new idea.

What is new is all of the press coverage that Trump’s talk of a Space Force has generated. In fact, just last year Congress considered a bill that would have created a Space Corps to be housed in the Air Force. Fortunately, the bill never gained much traction because, as it turns out, experts believe a Space Force is not really needed.

Yes, a Space Force does sound cool. But in all actuality, talk of creating a Space Force is a political stunt to rally the Trump base similar to his much-maligned border wall and military-parade ideas.

The branches of the military are functional. Each branch does its part to protect and serve the nation. Thus, each branch is necessary.

Space Force on the other hand, is unnecessary. As far as we know, there are no extraterrestrial threats that necessitate a military presence. In concert, NASA and other world aerospace enterprises are perfectly capable of monitoring space. There is no need for the U.S. to devote precious resources for a nonexistent threat. Just because it sounds cool doesn’t mean we should divest billions of dollars from other more pertinent parts of the already strapped U.S. budget.

Better yet, as famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson recently tweeted, “What we need most is a Truth Force — one that defends against all enemies of accurate information, both foreign & domestic.”