President Donald Trump announced Monday afternoon that the Navy would be building a new “Golden Fleet” of battleships.
“As you know, we’re desperately in need of ships. Our ships are — some of them have gotten old and tired and obsolete, and we’re going to go the exact opposite direction,” he said during the announcement at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
Trump was joined by War Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of the Navy John Phelan.
The president said he approved a plan for the Navy to begin building two new battleships, which will be the “largest we’ve ever built.” They will have 100 times more power than older boats, Trump said.
“These have been under design consideration for a long time, and it started with me in my first term, because I said, ‘Why aren’t we doing battleships like we used to?’” he said.
Renderings behind Trump showed the new “Trump class” ships, with one of the battleships to be built named the “USS Defiant.” He said the Navy would immediately begin on the two ships but would build as many as 25 in total.
“They’ll help maintain American military supremacy, revive the American shipbuilding industry, and inspire fear in America’s enemies all over the world,” Trump said. “We want respect. We’re going to have it.”
Trump shared that the battleships will be heavily armed with guns and missiles, hypersonic weapons, state of the art electric rail guns and high powered lasers. He said the construction of the ships will create thousands of American jobs and he will be meeting with defense contractors in Florida to discuss the proposed fast timeline.
The military will also be building three large aircraft carriers and 12 to 15 new submarines, in addition to “fixing up headquarters” and places for sailors to live.
Hegseth celebrated Trump’s efforts to revamp the U.S. military and said Monday’s announcement about the shipbuilding was part of that.
“We will make sure that anything that flows from our country and with our allies flows freely and uncontested. New and better ships will provide that deterrent today and for generations to come,” Hegseth said. “This new class, these new investments, the American people will look back and thank President Trump for having the vision and the willingness to invest right now in capabilities we need today, tomorrow and long into the future.”
The administration shared that production will start “almost immediately” and they expect the ships to be done in about two and a half years. It comes as the Trump administration is ramping up pressure and tensions rise with Venezuela after continuous U.S. strikes on fishing boats and an increased military presence in the area.
Phelan stated that Trump’s plan is something the Navy “desperately needs” and the USS Defiant will be the largest, deadliest and “most versatile” warship in the world."
“We’re going to make battle groups great again and this is just one piece of the president’s golden fleet that we’re going to build with the investments,” Phelan said, noting that it’s his job to equip soldiers with the ability to win battles.
“We are peace through strength and our adversaries will know when the Trump class USS Defiant appears on the horizon, American victory at sea is inevitable,” he added.