Top Trump military adviser: US troops must prepare to fight around the moon

Gen Dan Caine, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff and Donald Trump's top military adviser, said on Wednesday that American troops must prepare not only for combat in Earth's orbit but also in cislunar space — the region between Earth and the moon.

Speaking at a conference near Washington, Caine urged service members and industry figures to adapt so the US military is ready to fight, endure and win "from the seabed to cislunar space."

The remarks came just days after Air Force Secretary Troy Meink revealed at the same conference that the US has, for the first time, fielded on-orbit space control weapons.

Space Force expansion

Lt Gen Gregory Gagnon, head of the Space Force's Combat Forces Command, told reporters separately that the service — the newest branch, created by Trump in 2019 — is preparing for potential conflict in space and around the moon as humanity pushes further into space. Gagnon said intelligence assessments indicate adversaries, including China, are seeking to extend warfare into space. He also said the Space Force aims to roughly double in size to about 25,000 service members over the next five years, with most of that growth concentrated in the Combat Forces Command.

China's response and international treaties

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said China supports the peaceful use of outer space and opposes its weaponization, urging the US to halt its military buildup in space. China established its own military space force in 2024.

It remains unclear whether deploying weapons in space, or potential plans to use them around the moon, would violate the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, signed by both the US and China, which requires celestial bodies including the moon to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes. Two years ago, there was a renewed push at the United Nations to strengthen anti-militarization measures following reports that Russia was developing a space-based weapon.