Among a flurry of posts this weekend, Donald Trump revealed the service dress uniform designs for his Space Force.
Without additional comment, the president shared photos and an overview of the uniforms on Truth Social, which include in their color palette “space gray” and “midnight black” as well as knee high leather boots and snazzy epaulettes. The overview indicated the ensemble was “inspired by the discipline and functionality of the Starship Trooper uniform.”
The admission is a bit of a shocker, not just because Trump loves winners and the critically-panned 1997 Paul Verhoeven film was a flop, but also because it was a satire of fascism. In his review at the time, Roger Ebert noted the picture’s “quasi-fascist militarism,” while admitting that those aspects were leavened a bit by “an element of sly satire.” But, for Ebert, that was not enough. “We smile at the satirical asides, but where’s the warmth of human nature? The spark of genius or rebellion? If Star Wars is humanist, Starship Troopers is totalitarian.”
As for the costumes themselves, Ebert was only slightly less critical. He calls them “a cross between Buck Rogers and the Archie comic books.”
Trump has seemingly drawn inspiration from movies and television before for his newest branch of the United States Armed Forces, which he created in 2019. When the president unveiled the logo, science fiction fans almost immediately called out the similarity to that worn by Captain Kirk and other Starfleet officers in Gene Roddenberry’s enduring, space faring sci-fi franchise. Star Trek legend George Takei even weighed in, telling Trump to give the source material its due.
In 2020, then-Vice President Mike Pence celebrated the one year anniversary of Trump’s new branch by announcing that — as those serving in the Navy are known as sailors and those in the army are known as soldiers — “henceforth, the members of the United States Space Force will be known as ‘guardians.’”
The announcement drew a quick reaction from Guardians of the Galaxy fans, who thought there might be an unacknowledged connection between the film series and the new name.
