The idea of a space force was popular with supporters of former President Donald Trump, and Trump's presidential campaign sold unofficial space force merchandise – a practice he has been criticized for. The creation of Space Force resulted in some jokes, memes, and controversies online. Late night talk show hosts such as Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert joked about the idea. A Netflix comedy show, Space Force, has a plot involving the establishment of a United States Space Force. The Space Force was accused of being a "vanity project" for President Trump, despite the concept being debated since the 1990s as a means to counter Chinese and Russian military threats in space. Trump claimed in 2018 to have created the idea of the Space Force, saying "nobody even thought about the Space Force" before him, while in reality it was first proposed by representatives Jim Cooper and Mike Rogers in 2017. After President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki confirmed that the Biden administration would not re-evaluate the decision to establish the Space Force.
