PALM BEACH — President Donald Trump said his administration is embarking on the construction of a “golden fleet” of naval war vessels, led by two new battleships.
The first of the pair of “Trump class” battleships will be called the USS Defiance. Then, Trump said, another eight of the battleships will be built followed by another 10 to 15 more.
“We envision that these ships will be the first of a whole new class of battleships,” the president said in remarks from Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach estate, on Dec. 22. “Once completed, these new 30,000- to 40,000-ton vessels will be the flagships of the American naval fleet.”
The president did not reveal the cost of each new battleship, but said they will at least be partially funded by $26 billion allocated by a defense spending bill passed by Congress this month.
The president said he would meet in Palm Beach next week with industry leaders to work on production schedules. In response to a question, he expressed frustration with delays and cost overruns in previous naval shipbuilding, especially the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier.
Trump said the first battleship will take about 30 months to construct and will be 100 times more powerful than the World War II-era battleships. The vessels, the first battleships built in decades, will carry sea-born nuclear cruise missiles and hypersonic weapons in addition to guns, and they will rely on artificial intelligence.
Battleships served as the standard bearers of the U.S. Navy until the end of the 20th century. Weaponry technology and naval air power ultimately made the battleships obsolete.
US President Donald Trump walks to his SUV as he arrives at Palm Beach International Airport in Palm Beach, Florida early morning on December 20, 2025. President Trump is in Florida to spend the holidays at his Mar-a-Lago estate. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images)
The largest battleships built by the United States happened during World War II.
That fleet was led by the USS Iowa, New Jersey and Wisconsin in addition to the Missouri, on whose decks the Japanese government surrendered in September 1945, ending the war. Under the Reagan administration, the World War II battleships were retrofitted and returned to the high seas.
The president also noted the United States has 15 nuclear submarines under construction, as well as three more aircraft carriers as well as smaller vessels such as frigates.
Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at afins@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: President unveils Trump class battleship building plan from Mar-a-Lago
