Trump-Class Battleship Announced as U.S. Seeks to Compete With China’s Naval Expansion
“They’ll be the fastest, the biggest, and by far, 100 times more powerful than any battleship ever built,” President Trump said at a Mar-a-Lago press conference announcing plans for the new Trump-class battleship. He referenced historic ships such as the Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Alabama, noting that while they were formidable in their era, the new vessels would surpass them by a wide margin.
The ships, the first battleships built since 1944, will serve as the centerpiece of what Trump describes as a revitalized U.S. Navy and a future “Golden Fleet.” Speaking alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and Secretary of the Navy John Phelan, Trump said the idea originated during his first term, when he asked, “Why aren’t we doing battleships like we used to?”
Trump said the Navy will initially build two large surface combatants, with a long-term goal of expanding the class to 20 to 25 ships. The lead vessel will be the USS Defiant, which he said could be delivered in roughly two and a half years, though longer-term Navy planning places construction in the early 2030s.
According to Navy officials, the Trump class would be the largest U.S. surface combatant built since World War II, displacing roughly 30,000 to more than 35,000 tons, far larger than existing destroyers.
The ships are intended to function as heavily armed offensive platforms, capable of operating independently, alongside carrier strike groups, or as the command-and-control hub of a surface action group. Navy descriptions emphasize long-range strike, fleet coordination, air and missile defense, surface warfare, and anti-submarine operations.
The Trump class is expected to use proven combat systems already deployed on Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, including the SPY-6 radar and large vertical launch missile magazines. Planned armaments include hypersonic Conventional Prompt Strike weapons, with design margins for future systems such as directed-energy weapons, rail guns, and nuclear-capable sea-launched cruise missiles. Navy leaders have described the ships as delivering unmatched firepower and creating a new layer of deterrence at sea.
The program emerges amid the most significant shift in global naval power since World War II. China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy has become the world’s largest fleet by hull count, operating more than 370 ships compared with roughly 290 in the U.S. Navy. U.S. Navy intelligence assessments estimate that China’s shipbuilding capacity exceeds that of the United States by more than 230 times when measured by tonnage, enabling Beijing in recent years to launch the equivalent of an entire European navy in a single year and fundamentally alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific.
Against that backdrop, Navy Secretary John Phelan has urged U.S. shipbuilders to “act like we’re at war,” arguing that decades-long acquisition timelines are no longer acceptable when adversaries are moving faster. To support that effort, the Navy announced a $448 million investment in a new Shipbuilding Operating System developed with Palantir Technologies.
The system is designed to integrate data across shipyards, identify bottlenecks, streamline engineering workflows, and improve risk management through AI and automation. The program will begin with the submarine industrial base, with plans to expand to surface shipbuilding as lessons are learned.
At Mississippi’s Ingalls Shipbuilding yard, operated by Huntington Ingalls Industries, officials have expressed support for the Navy’s modernization push and are already expanding the use of artificial intelligence through partnerships such as one with C3 AI.
Ingalls employs nearly 11,000 workers in Pascagoula and holds a substantial Navy backlog, including nearly $9.5 billion in recent multi-ship amphibious contracts. The Navy says that procurement approach will save more than $900 million while accelerating delivery.
Trump has said he intends to take a personal role in overseeing the design and has framed the program as both a military and industrial initiative. Administration officials argue the battleship program is meant to restore American maritime dominance and revive domestic shipbuilding, not to target any single country.
The Navy plans to use a Navy-led, industry-collaborative design approach, supporting more than 1,000 suppliers nationwide while continuing production of existing destroyers and future frigates.
Estimated costs for the Trump class range from $10 to $15 billion per ship, but major U.S. shipyards have indicated they are prepared to support the effort as part of a long-term strategy to rebuild American naval power well into the 2030s and beyond.
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