ATHENS — U.S. Rep. Jerry Carl said Thursday former President Donald Trump originally wanted to put the new Space Command headquarters in Florida, but was talked out of it by one of his advisors.
“Trump wanted to put it in Florida – most people don’t know that,” Carl told Michael Yaffee, host of WVNN’s “The Yaffee Program.” “Then they convinced him that there was no better place than Huntsville, Alabama for it.”
Carl (R-Mobile) also accused officials in Colorado Springs of spending money illegally to try and make improvements so Space Command will remain at that location.
“We had a meeting with the Secretary of the Air Force two days ago,” he said. “He pretty much let it slip that General (James) Dickinson out in Colorado has been spending money trying to upgrade the facilities there so the facilities can be moved there. That money has never gone through appropriations. That money has never been signed off on any committees, and, in my view, he illegally spent that money.
“So what they’re saying now is Colorado Springs qualifies so they are wanting to re-evaluate how they picked these facilities.”
Carl said retired Lt. Gen. Joseph Keith Kellogg Jr., who served as Trump’s executive secretary and Chief of Staff of the National Security Council, was part of the conversations with the president about Space Command.
Related: House Armed Services Committee to investigate process.
“Trump was talking about Florida, and (Kellogg) actually went and sat down with Trump and said ‘Mr. President, nothing in Florida matches what we need. Everything points to Huntsville, Alabama,'” Carol said. “So there’s no reason why it’s not going to Huntsville, Alabama. It was not a political choice is what I’m getting at. What we’re doing now is all politics.”
Carl is joining his Republican colleagues in pushing back against reports that President Biden is attempting to block the relocation of Space Command to Redstone Arsenal.
“I think Colorado Springs was fifth, we were one very clearly across the board,” he said. “Everything they measured us on, Huntsville is the winner.”
Carl said Biden is just playing politics with national security.
“Alabama’s a red state, Biden doesn’t like it, it’s not going to help Biden here,” he said. “But even his Democrat colleagues like Terri Sewell (D-Birmingham) are stepping up and going ‘No Way! This is not right. It needs to stay in Alabama.'”
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