Personally, I see something different in this. The 64 meter antennas are in Spain (a good allay), Australia (a good allay) and California (now Republican). A lot of space money stays on the ground, and I find it very interesting that those nations/areas that will be collecting the data for NASA/JPL just happen to be very friendly with this administration.
I don't see anything sinister in it, in fact its a perfect way to "pay them back" without appearing to "pay them back"
Good points. Many countries are asking to be included in our missile defense shield.