Donald Trump unveils new class of battleships named after himself

President Donald Trump has announced that the United States will commission a new series of heavily armed “battleships” bearing his name, as part of a revamped “Golden Fleet.”

Construction of the Trump-class USS Defiant, which will be equipped to carry an array of weapons, is expected to begin soon, with Trump saying the first ships will be operational in two and a half years.

The announcement is part of a broader U.S. Navy expansion plan by President Trump, with manned and unmanned ships, including larger missile-armed warships and smaller vessels.

Officials have warned that the United States currently lags behind China in shipbuilding capacity and total production.

Speaking Monday at his Mar-a-Lago golf club in Florida alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Navy Secretary John Phelan, Trump said he had approved the construction of two new battleships, with a plan to build as many as 25.

“They will be the fastest, largest and by far, 100 times more powerful than any battleship ever built,” Trump said.

Once completed, Trump said the armed ships would be equipped to carry hypersonic and “extremely lethal” weapons, and would be the flagships of the U.S. Navy.

Trump, who spoke while flanked on both sides by posters depicting renderings of the “Trump-class” ships, said the ships would be built domestically and their construction would create “thousands” of jobs.

In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, Phelan said Trump had specifically requested a “big, beautiful” battleship-style vessel to be part of the fleet, which will also include dozens of support and transport ships.

On December 19, another new set of ships, based on the US Coast Guard’s Legend-class National Security Cutter, was announced by the US Navy.

“Recent operations from the Red Sea to the Caribbean make this requirement undeniable: our small inventory of surface combatants represents a third of what we have,” Chief of Naval Operations Daryl Caudle said in a video statement about the new ships.

“We need more capable small blue water fighters to close the gap and maintain our [destroyers] focused on high-end combat,” he added.

A similar ship, the Constellation-class frigate – which Trump approved during his first term – was canceled in 2025 after repeated delays and cost overruns.

Only two ships are expected to be delivered after around $2bn (£1.49bn) was spent on the project.

U.S. officials and defense analysts have repeatedly warned that the United States is lagging behind China, its main potential maritime rival, in terms of shipbuilding capacity.

This year, more than 60% of global orders have gone to Chinese shipyards, and their navy is already the largest in the world.

Since returning to office in January, Trump has pledged to revive the U.S. shipbuilding industry.

“We used to make so many ships,” Trump said in March. “We don’t make a lot of them, but we’re going to make them very quickly, very soon. It will have a huge impact.”

In October, Trump and Finnish President Alexander Stubb signed a deal allowing the United States to purchase 11 Finnish-designed icebreakers, including seven built in the United States with Finnish expertise.

The president’s announcement also comes as U.S. naval and air assets have flocked to the Caribbean amid growing tensions with Venezuela.

The United States began attacking ships suspected of carrying drugs in September, killing at least 100 people.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Trump claimed that thousands of American lives had been saved by boat collisions by preventing deadly drugs from entering the United States.

The attacks have been criticized by some experts, who said they could violate international laws governing armed conflict.