Alabama can count on one specific benefit if Donald Trump wins Tuesday’s election – moving the headquarters of the Space Command headquarters to Huntsville, Republicans say.

Trump supported the Air Force’s decision in January 2021 to pick Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville for the headquarters.

But Biden overturned that decision last year and said the headquarters should be in Colorado Springs.

See also: What would a Harris presidency mean for Alabama?

“When President Trump made the decision to place Space Command in Huntsville, he did so because Huntsville won each phase of the selection process by a wide margin,” said Alabama Congressman Mike Rogers, R-Saks, who is chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

“When Biden made the decision to move Space Command to Colorado, he did so because it was politically expedient for him.

“This is just one example of the astonishing national security failures made by the Biden-Harris Administration. I look forward to working with President Trump to reverse Biden’s political meddling in the basing process, and I will be sleeping sounder at night knowing we have a real commander in chief.”

Biden said he picked Colorado because the base would achieve operational readiness faster there, but Rogers and others say the facts don‘t back that up.

Rogers has moved to block Biden’s decision with language added to the Department of Defense budget. In August, Rogers requested an investigation into the Biden decision by the Government Accountability Office. That has not been completed.

Winning the base will mean at least 1,600 new jobs for Alabama and more as the command and its missions grow.

Congresswoman Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, also a member of the Armed Services Committee, agrees that Huntsville is the right choice and said she believes it could also happen under a Kamala Harris administration.

“I agree with my Republican colleagues and fought like hell to keep the Space Command in Huntsville,” Sewell said. “I do believe that Huntsville won that contest fair and square. I do believe the Biden-Harris administration, frustrated by the holdup on military promotions really put politics first.

“And I think that as a matter of fairness, Huntsville will get that back, whether it’s a Republican presidency or a Democratic one. I believe Huntsville deserves and won that fair and square and look forward to articulating that to our next president.”

Trump ‘seems to like’ Tuberville and Britt

Jess Brown, a retired political science professor at Athens State University, said there‘s ample reason to believe Trump would follow through on his original decision and put the headquarters in Huntsville. On the other hand, Colorado has supported Democrats in the last four presidential elections and is expected to back Harris on Tuesday.

“Harris is not going to move Space Command back to Alabama, in my opinion,” Brown said.

“Because she’s going to look at Colorado and say it’s blue and appears to be getting bluer. She’s going to look at Alabama and see a restrictive abortion policy in a state that’s crimson red and say I’m not moving it.”

Overall, Brown said Alabama is in a position to benefit more from a Trump presidency than from a Harris presidency. Trump received 62% of the vote in Alabama in 2016 and in 2020. Sen. Tommy Tuberville is a loyal Trump supporter, and Sen. Katie Britt has also backed the former president.

“Trump seems to like both Tuberville and Britt,” Brown said. “Britt has in recent months shown also a willingness to defend Trump early and often.”

That means Alabama’s senators should have access to the president, Brown said.

But Trump’s track record shows he will not necessarily follow through and do what is necessary to get Congress to implement his priorities.

“The difficulty with Trump is predicting Trump,” Brown said.

“He will turn on a dime. He will change a position from one day to the next. I just don’t know how people can look at his political career since 2015 and assume he will in effect attempt to put together the kind of coalition to make happen what he wants to happen. I just don’t know that Trump can be relied on to effectively implement his agenda.”

An example is that Trump campaigned in 2016 on a $1 trillion plan to rebuild highways, bridges, airports, and other infrastructure, but never put together a bill to accomplish that.

Alabama House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, said a Trump presidency would bring a welcome change of course for the nation and Alabama.

“If you look at inflation, it’s just spiraled out of control here in the Biden administration,” Ledbetter said. “That’s one thing the Trump administration had under control.

“Young people and other individuals having an opportunity to buy a home has diminished with the Biden administration. Under Trump, we had some of the lowest mortgage rates that this country has ever seen.”

Trump would ‘undo Biden’s political meddling’

Ledbetter said he thinks Trump’s proposal to impose tariffs on imported goods will bring good jobs to Alabama.

Tariffs are a tax on imported goods, paid by the businesses importing them. Trump has proposed 20% tariffs on imports generally and 60% tariffs on imports from China.

Trump imposed some tariffs when he was president, a move that amounted to $80 billion in new taxes paid by Americans in 2018 and 2019, according to research from the Tax Foundation. The Biden administration kept most of the Trump tariffs in place.

“Also, because of the Biden administration’s unwillingness to regulate the border, Alabama has become a border state,” Ledbetter said.

“I think every state in the country has become a border state if you look at the number of illegals that’s come in the wrong way, over 20 million, has come across the border. That’s four times the size of the state of Alabama.

“I just don’t know how we continue to do this and maintain the quality of life we have in the country with food and housing and things like that. So, I don’t think there’s any question for Alabamians it’s a huge deal and hopefully get back in the right direction.”

Trump’s claim that 21 million migrants have entered the country during the Biden administration has been disputed.

Gov. Kay Ivey said Alabamians could expect better days under a Trump administration.

“My favorite President, President Ronald Reagan, once asked the famous question, ‘Are you better off today than you were four years ago?’ And if you ask most Americans, they’d say no,” Ivey said.

“It’s also important to remember that we have two campaigns, or two folks in the White House that we can compare one with another. And I think for sure Trump stands out for being successful. He’s had success, prosperity, and security.”

Congressman Dale Strong, a Republican who represents Alabama’s 5th District that includes the Redstone Arsenal, said the Space Command decision is one of many reasons Alabamians should hope that Trump returns to the White House.

“A second Trump presidency would be great for Alabama,” Strong said.

“He’s strong on border security and the only one able to turn the economy around to put more money in the pockets of hardworking Americans. President Trump understands what North Alabama does for our national security.

“He chose Huntsville to be the permanent home of Space Command because it’s what is best for national defense. I look forward to seeing Trump undo Biden’s political meddling and Space Command go vertical at Redstone Arsenal.”