Trump unveils new battleships for Navy’s Golden Fleet: Here’s why it matters

The US President Donald Trump has announced approval for two new Trump-class battleships, aiming to revamp the US Navy's “Golden Fleet.”

While speaking at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Navy Secretary John C. Phelan, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the President claimed that the “Trump-class” naval battleships “would be the largest ones in the history of the US.”

The newly-unveiled plan will initially revolve around two Trump-class vessels before being expanded to 25 new watercraft, called the “Golden Fleet.”

USS Defiant: '100 times more powerful' 

Speaking about the battleships’ characteristics dubbed the “USS Defiant”, Trump said that these naval ships will be equipped with an array of weapons and armed with hypersonic missiles, railguns, lasers, and more.

The vessels will have a weight between 30,000 and 40,000 tons.

The President emphasized, “They'll be the fastest, the biggest, and by far, 100 times more powerful than any battleship ever built.”

According to the Trump administration, the construction is expected to begin soon and within two-and-a-half years these vessels will be operational.

The announcement aligns with Trump’s broad strategy to expand the US Navy through a blend of manned and unmanned vessels, including large missile-armed warships to smaller tactical craft.

“The US Navy will lead the design of these ships along with me, because I'm a very aesthetic person,” Trump said at the event.

Boosting US shipbuilding

According to officials, the US currently falls short in both shipbuilding capacity and total output as compared to China’s ever-expanding maritime fleet dominance.

As per statistics, over 60 percent of world’s orders related to shipbuilding were secured by Chinese shipyards.

The plan aims for boosting U.S. shipyards with jobs nationwide and faster builds using robots and AI, amid goals for naval supremacy against rivals like China.