That Time Peter Navarro Established Trump's Space Policy

I have a new book coming out, Red Moon Rising: How America Will Beat China on the Final Frontier. This book explores America’s activities in space in the context of increasing competition with China; it’s about using Space Race 2.0 to win the Second Cold War. Red Moon Rising is a book on space policy for the general reader, expert but not technical. I hope that you will find it an informative and irreverently fun read.

I’m particularly proud to be co-authoring this with former Assistant to the President, Dr. Peter Navarro. As I have detailed previously, Peter and I are good friends and have worked together on many projects over three decades. He taught me macroeconomics, and I’ve mentored him on space policy. Peter and I collaborated on a number of China and space related pieces including a 2007 front page editorial on the Insight section of the Sunday San Francisco Chronicle entitled “China’s Race to Space” with the subtitle “China looking skyward for a military advantage over U.S. space program.” That was a pretty radical position back when Democrats and Republicans were climbing over each other to curry China’s favor and most space professionals dismissed China’s space program as a third-rate Soviet hand-me-down.  I also provided a chapter on space entitled “Racing for the Ultimate Strategic High Ground” for Peter’s book The Coming China Wars (Pearson 2008).

In 2011, Peter and I co-authored Death by China: Confronting the Dragon, a Global Call to Action (Pearson). I sent copies to 50 thought leaders and notable public figures, including Donald J. Trump. The following year, Peter and I produced a documentary film on the book. Peter wrote and directed the documentary which featured insights from China-wise members of Congress and the Canadian Parliament. It was narrated by Martin Sheen. Trump endorsed the film. We showed it in House and Senate office buildings and walked the halls educating members and staff. The Death by China book and film had a significant impact in shifting American political perceptions of China. The book included a chapter on space.

During the 2016 campaign, Peter served as Trump’s economic advisor. I frequently shared space policy insights with him during that time. In October of that year, Peter joined former House Science and Technology Committee Chair, Bob Walker, in writing two editorials for Space News that detailed the official Trump space policy. The first piece focused on NASA and civil space. America would have a bigger, better space program with more ambition and funding. NASA would boldy go to deep space, laying the groundwork for Artemis and the Moon-to-Mars vision.

The second Space News piece detailed the Trump vision of “peace through strength” for America’s military space programs. It also called for increased investment, better coordination across agencies and prophetically noted:

To move boldly forward, we must recognize that many of our military needs can be met with commercially available launch, communications, and observation capabilities. This business-oriented approach will reduce costs while accessing new advances on a timeline significantly quicker than current, outdated military procurement procedures.

Peter also has another new book, The New Maga Deal, coming out in summer 2024. This unofficial guide to Trump’s next Policy Platform will be released by Winning Team Publishing, cofounded by Donald Trump Jr. The book has already received an endorsement from President Trump who said:

Peter did his job well, he did it faithfully, and he loved our country. His book should be studied, and what he says should be highly respected. 

Navarro brought in a dozen experts to draft various chapters, and I was proud to pen the space policy chapter. Peter Navarro has been an innovative and influential thinker in China and space policy and I’m very excited to be releasing Red Moon Rising with him now. I expect you will find our book to be highly impactful on future U.S. Space Policy.

Dr. Autry is the co-author, with Peter Navarro, of Death by China: Confronting the Dragon, a Global Call to Action and the forthcoming book Red Moon Rising: How America Will be China on the Final Frontier. He served on the Trump Presidential Transition Team and as White House Liaison at NASA. In 2020, President Trump nominated him to be the Chief Financial Officer at NASA, and he currently is a guest columnist for Peter Navarro’s Taking Back Trump’s America. Follow him on X or Truth at @GregWAutry.

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