Trump Unveils 'Trump Class' Battleship Construction to Reassert US Naval Supremacy

On Monday, December 22, 2025, US President Donald Trump announced the commencement of construction for a new class of large warships, officially designated the 'Trump Class,' as part of a broader initiative dubbed the 'Golden Fleet.' This declaration, made from his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, signals a significant potential strategic pivot aimed at reclaiming the United States Navy's dominance on the seas. President Trump framed these vessels as the largest ever built, emphasizing their critical role in revitalizing America's shipbuilding sector.

The ambitious plan calls for the construction of two lead ships, with the first slated to be named the 'USS Defiant.' Secretary of the Navy John Phelan, who was sworn in on March 25, 2025, asserted that the 'USS Defiant' would stand as the largest and most versatile warship ever conceived. Technical specifications point toward a displacement ranging between 30,000 and 40,000 tons and a length exceeding 256 meters. These dimensions effectively resurrect the battleship concept, a type of vessel the US Navy retired after the Second World War.

Advanced armament systems are slated for integration into these new giants. This arsenal is expected to include hypersonic missiles, high-powered lasers, and potentially electromagnetic railguns, alongside conventional sea-launched cruise missiles with nuclear capability (SLCM-N). The sheer scale of these ships represents a dramatic departure from contemporary naval design philosophy, leaning instead toward massive, heavily armed platforms.

President Trump estimated that the initial two vessels would require approximately two and a half years to complete, with the ultimate goal of expanding the fleet to between 20 and 25 units. Secretary Phelan, formerly the founder of the investment firm Rugger Management, LLC, highlighted that the ship would carry nuclear deterrence capabilities and function as a flagship command node. Furthermore, the 'Golden Fleet' project involves collaboration with South Korea's shipbuilding industry, specifically mentioning Hanwha, which, according to Trump, will invest $5 billion into a Philadelphia shipyard.

Nevertheless, industry experts have voiced considerable skepticism regarding the feasibility and timeline of the undertaking. Mark Cancian of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) questioned the project's viability, suggesting that the design phase alone would consume too much time and that the associated costs would prove exorbitant. Cancian pointed out that this proposal runs counter to the US Navy's current strategic focus on distributed lethality, speculating that a subsequent administration might easily scrap the program.

Brian Clark, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, provided a cost estimate exceeding $10 billion per ship. This figure places the 'Trump Class' two to three times more expensive than current Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, which cost roughly $2.7 billion apiece. The financial implications alone are staggering, raising questions about resource allocation within the defense budget.

Bernard Lim of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) characterized the initiative as a 'prestige project above all else,' cautioning that the immense size of the proposed ships would render them highly susceptible targets in modern conflict scenarios. Current naval doctrine in 2025 prioritizes agility and networked systems over heavily armored behemoths. Building these battleships could place an undue strain on the already stretched US shipbuilding industrial base, which some analysts believe has lost the necessary expertise for constructing such massive surface combatants.