WASHINGTON – President Trump announced this week a plan for the Navy to build a new, large warship. The “battleship” is part of a larger project to create a “Golden Fleet.”
The president called the new set of warships “Trump-class” battleships. The first ship will be the USS Defiant. Construction is set to begin “almost immediately” and is projected to take 2 ½ years.
“They’ll be the fastest, the biggest, and by far 100 times more powerful than any battleship ever built,” Trump stated in his announcement. According to the president, the Navy will arm the ship with hypersonic missiles, rail guns, nuclear cruise missiles, and high-powered lasers.
The president has advocated for a renovation of the U.S. fleet of warships for several years, calling them “terrible looking” and riddled with rust.
The USS Defiant is set to be longer and larger than World War II-era Iowa-class battleships.
The news arrives following the Navy’s abandoned plans to build a new, small warship. Just over a month ago, they explained the withdrawal due to growing delays and cost overruns. The Navy chose to use a modified version of a Coast Guard cutter instead.
Last week, the Navy also announced that it will begin development of a new class of frigates.
Mark Montgomery, a former rear admiral and senior director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, criticized the new plan.
“We do not need ships that are not optimized to provide lethality against the Chinese threat… That is not what these are focused on – they are focused on the president’s visual that a battleship is a cool-looking ship,” Montgomery commented.
Trump made the announcement at his Mar-a-Lago resort. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Navy Secretary John Phelan accompanied the president.
“The U.S. Navy will lead the design of these ships along with me, because I’m a very aesthetic person,” Trump expressed.
Phelan claims the new Trump-class ship “will inspire awe and reverence for the American flag whenever it pulls into a foreign port.”
