Trump Says New Navy Battleship Class Will Carry His Name
President Trump arrives to speak at his Mar-a-Lago club, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Trump announced Monday that the U.S. Navy plans to develop a new class of battleships bearing his name, unveiling the proposal during remarks at Mar-a-Lago. He said the vessels would be “the fastest, the biggest, and by far 100 times more powerful than any battleship ever built,” according to the Associated Press.
The Trump-class ships would be far larger than today’s Arleigh Burke–class destroyers, which the president has frequently criticized as outdated. Defense officials described the proposed vessels as 30,000-ton “large surface combatants” designed to accommodate future technologies, including rail guns and high-energy lasers, the Wall Street Journal reported.
President Trump said artificial intelligence would play a major role in the new ships and emphasized his desire to accelerate the construction process. He said he plans to meet with defense contractors next week, criticizing the pace of current shipbuilding efforts. Trump also said he intends to be personally involved in the design process. “The U.S. Navy will lead the design of these ships along with me, because I’m a very aesthetic person,” he said, according to the AP.
Reuters reported that the first ship in the class will be named the USS Defiant, and the administration plans to acquire up to 25 of the vessels.
The announcement follows the Navy’s recent rollout of plans for a new frigate to replace the canceled Constellation-class program. Together, the new frigates and Trump-class battleships would form the foundation of the administration’s “Golden Fleet” concept, which calls for more large warships armed with long-range, potentially hypersonic missiles, supported by a greater number of smaller frigates modeled after the Coast Guard’s Legend-class National Security Cutter.
At the event, Navy Secretary John Phelan said the Trump-class ships would be equipped to carry a nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missile, according to the New York Times. “This is just one piece of the president’s Golden Fleet that we’re going to build,” he said.
The AP noted that battleships have historically been large, heavily armored vessels designed for ship-to-ship combat and shore bombardment, a role that declined after World War II. While some defense analysts argue the Navy needs more powerful surface combatants to protect aircraft carriers, others are skeptical. Retired Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies told the Wall Street Journal that the Golden Fleet is “exactly what we don’t need,” arguing the ships are not optimized to counter China’s military capabilities and instead reflect the president’s personal vision of what a battleship should look like.
About Post Author
