WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump announced Monday he is directing the Pentagon to create a new “Space Force” as an independent military service branch aimed at ensuring American supremacy in space — though he may have limited power to develop a new military command.

While Trump has previously talked about his desire for a space unit, he seemed to take those musings one step further, specifically ordering the Pentagon to begin the creation of a sixth branch of the American armed forces.

“When it comes to defending America, it is not enough to merely have an American presence in space. We must have American dominance in space,” Trump said during remarks at the White House. “We are going to have the Air Force and we are going to have the Space Force, separate but equal.”

Turning to seek out Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Trump said, “General Dunford, if you would carry that assignment out, I would be very greatly honored also …Where’s General Dunford? General? Got it?”

Dunford appeared to acknowledge the order, responding, “we got it.” But the directive seemed to take defense officials by surprise. Creating a new joint military command is largely the purview of Congress, which would have to provide the authority and any funding or shifting of money to a new unit.

Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said that the department understands the president’s guidance, and is working on the matter while taking into consideration the implications for intelligence operations for the other services. “Working with Congress, this will be a deliberate process with a great deal of input from multiple stakeholders,” she said.

A senior congressional aide said that Trump’s order is consistent with efforts by members of Congress over the past two years to find a way to dedicate additional resources to the country’s war-fighting in space. But the issue has been contested, and even Defense Secretary Jim Mattis expressed some early reluctance to creating a new military service citing the expense and broader effort to integrate warfighting.

The Defense Department is already in the middle of a congressionally-mandated review of the space force issue. The study began in March, with an interim review due in August and a final report due December 31. It’s not clear if the president’s comments Monday were meant to override or influence that study.

Decades ago, the military deemed space a critical war-fighting domain, creating the Colorado-based Air Force Space Command in 1982. It includes more than 36,000 personnel around the world that provide space and cyber capabilities for the Defense Department. And the Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base in California, designs and buys most of the Pentagon’s space systems, while also overseeing satellite and other aircraft launches.

In addition, a number of federal defense agencies control portions of the space program, including NASA and the National Reconnaissance Office, which develops and operates surveillance spacecraft and satellites for intelligence gathering.

In a March document outlining the review, the Pentagon said it has already made organizational changes to beef up the stature of the space force, but is reviewing others. The document sent to Congress said the review will look at research, capabilities, acquisition and joint war-fighting needs, and will assess “whether the Space Corps concept should be implemented.”