President Donald Trump’s plans to build an “Iron Dome for America” are likely still on track but could take some time, according to an expert on the “existential threat” of a nuclear electromagnetic pulse (EMP).

“By next term we will build a great Iron Dome over our country,” Trump said last year during his presidential campaign. “We deserve a dome…it’s a missile defense shield, and it’ll all be made in America.”

Military historian and college professor William Forstchen believes such a system is in play, telling Fox News Digital, “It’ll take some time from the president until we have a defense system in place.”

The New York Times bestselling author is an expert on EMPs and discussed the key difference between the Israeli defense system and the Golden Dome presented by Trump, which was first proposed by President Reagan.

“The Israeli system has been very effective in protecting Israel against the aggression of Iran and others. It’s called the Iron Dome, but that’s a tactical defense system, meaning it shoots down missiles only a couple of miles up,” he said. “But if the U.S. had a Golden Dome, it would be a strategic defense system. It would take out systems, ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles) that are launched at the United States and destroy them in space before they get to the United States.”

“It’s a no-brainer to me. We need a strategic defense system. It was proposed in the ’80s, but the technology wasn’t quite there that technology is now,”  Forstchen said. “It can be built. We have to defend the United States against an EMP attack, which could destroy us in a matter of minutes.”

“We have to act quickly. We have to act this year. Don’t delay this two or three years down the road,” the EMP expert urged.

“We need an insurance policy to protect the United States of America,” he said. “It’s that simple. Yes, it will cost. How much did we spend on the Green New Deal or on EV charges?”

“I’m old enough to remember the Cold War. There was a time when Russia and then China were the big adversaries, but the whole thing was mutually assured destruction. They launch at us, we launch at them and nobody wins,”  Forstchen continued. “But what about a proxy player or a third world player? Suppose tomorrow that madman in North Korea decides to strike the United States?

“That’s a real possibility. That’s a real threat. So I don’t see Russia or China so much. I definitely do see North Korea and Iran as the big players that I worry about,” he added.