On Monday (Dec. 22), President Donald Trump held court at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, announcing to the press that a new class of warships would bear his name. “They’ll be the fastest, the biggest, and by far 100 times more powerful than any battleship ever built,” he said of the vessels which he says will be part of the Navy’s “Golden Fleet.”
“The U.S. Navy will lead the design of these ships along with me, because I’m a very aesthetic person,” Trump said, with Navy Secretary John Phelan present along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. The “guided missile battleships” are set to be the same size as Iowa-class battleships but have smaller crews and weigh half the size at 35,000 tons. Trump also said that AI will be used to help manufacture the boats.
According to reporting by the Associated Press, one official who spoke under anonymity claims that the design process is underway, with construction set to begin in the early 2030s. Experts have observed that the ship designs presented are actually frigates, much smaller than battleships and destroyers.
Trump gushed about the ships, claiming there has “never been anything like these,” and said that 20 to 25 of the ships beginning with the U.S.S. Defiant would be built. Hegseth would claim that “This new class, these new investments will be the types of things that for decades, for centuries, the American people will look back and thank President Trump for.”
The announcement was met with some enthusiasm by Trump supporters online, but more people bashed it, pointing out the impracticailty of the vessels as well as highlighting that it appears to be another vanity project for the president. One user on X, formerly Twitter, said that Trump naming the boats “Trump Class” wouldn’t fly because “If the first ship is the USS Defiant, then it’s the “Defiant Class” not “Trump Class.” Political strategist Rachel Bitcofer wrote in a post on Bluesky, “Even Hitler and Mussolini didn’t do that!!”
1. Malcolm Nance
