President Trump Unveils ‘Trump-Class’ Battleships

President Donald Trump announced Monday the creation of a new battleship class for the U.S. Navy, marking an unexpected return to a vessel type that last saw construction nearly eight decades ago, even as the service continues to grapple with widespread delays and cancellations across its modern shipbuilding programs.

Speaking from his Mar-a-Lago resort alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Navy Secretary John Phelan, Trump revealed the “Trump-class battleship,” which he claimed would be “100-times more powerful” than any battleship ever built. The lead ship of the class will be named USS Defiant (BBG 1).

“If you take the biggest one, it’s 100-times more powerful,” Trump said during the announcement. He went on to say that the vessels will be 30,000 to 40,000-plus ton.

The Trump-class battleship will serve as the centerpiece of the president’s planned “Golden Fleet” for the U.S. Navy, according to officials with knowledge of the announcement who spoke to the Wall Street Journal. Trump also announced plans for a new class of aircraft carriers during the same event.

Trump said the class will begin with two ships immediately, followed by eight more, ultimately reaching a total of 20–25 battleships.

Secretary Phelan said the battleships will be “largest, deadliest, most versatile, and best-looking warship anywhere on the oceans.”

“The Iowa was designed to go on the attack with the biggest guns, and that’s exactly what will define the Trump-class battleships,” Phelan said. He added that the class will also carry nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missiles.

For comparison, the USS Iowa displaced around 58,000 tons full load and carried 9 × 16-inch guns, the largest ever deployed by the United States.

According to the Navy, the new battleship class would be roughly three times the size of an Arleigh Burke–class destroyer, carrying far greater firepower and significantly larger missile magazines. The ships are expected to be capable of launching Conventional Prompt Strike hypersonic weapons as well as the nuclear-armed Surface-Launched Cruise Missile.

In operational terms, the Navy says the class could deploy alongside a carrier strike group in a traditional integrated air and missile defense role, or operate independently as the flagship of a surface action group, overseeing surface and anti-submarine warfare missions. Beyond that, the ships would be designed to deliver long-range hypersonic strikes and serve as a central command-and-control hub, coordinating operations across an entire fleet.

“As we forge the future of our Navy’s Fleet, we need a larger surface combatant and the Trump class Battleships meet that requirement,” said Adm. Daryl Caudle, 34th Chief of Naval Operations. “We will ensure continuous improvement, intellectually honest assessments about the requirement to effectively deter and win in the 2030s and beyond, and disciplined execution resulting in a Fleet unparalleled in lethality, adaptability and strength.”

The announcement comes as the Navy faces mounting challenges across multiple shipbuilding programs, with several recent cancellations and strategic shifts highlighting the service’s struggle to modernize its fleet efficiently.

Last Friday, the Navy unveiled plans for a new frigate class based on Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Legend-Class National Security Cutter design, following the cancellation of four Constellation-class vessels. Navy Secretary John C. Phelan confirmed the service will acquire the FF(X) frigate using an accelerated approach designed to deliver combat power faster than traditional shipbuilding programs.

The decision to cancel four Constellation-class frigates came after severe schedule challenges pushed the lead ship’s delivery from April 2026 to April 2029—a three-year delay.

The FF(X) announcement represents the latest in a series of federal shipbuilding program alterations under the Trump administration, which has also cancelled the Coast Guard’s planned eleventh Legend-class National Security Cutter at Huntington Ingalls and partially shut down the troubled Offshore Patrol Cutter program at Eastern Shipbuilding.

Construction and Industrial Base

According to the Navy, the battleship will be developed through a Navy-led, industry-collaborative design effortintended to speed up both design and construction. The program is expected to draw on a sprawling industrial base, with more than 1,000 suppliers spread across nearly every U.S. state.

At the same time, the Navy says it will continue building Arleigh Burke–class destroyers (DDG-51) as the backbone of the surface fleet, while moving forward with the FF(X) program as a more easily produced combatant. Together, the approach is meant to expand fleet size more quickly by balancing high-end capability with simpler, lower-cost platforms in a deliberate high-low mix.

Earlier this month, Phelan also announced the selection of the LST-100 landing ship transport, designed by Dutch shipbuilder Damen, for the Medium Landing Ship program after previously terminating four vessels from the Constellation-class frigate program. The Medium Landing Ship program envisions procuring between 18 and 35 new amphibious vessels to support Marine Corps operations, particularly in implementing the Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations concept developed with potential conflict scenarios with China in the Western Pacific in mind.

The announcement of a new battleship class represents a dramatic departure from modern naval doctrine. U.S. Navy battleship construction ended with the suspension of the incomplete Kentucky (BB-66) in 1947, according to the U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command. During the almost six-decade era from 1888 to 1947, 59 battleships of 23 different basic designs were completed for the Navy.

Battleships were once considered the “Queens of the Sea,” the foundation of national strategic offense and defense, but their dominance ended with the arrival of aircraft that could out-range their big guns and deliver blows of equal or greater power before World War II. The Second World War brought them a new mission in shore-bombardment, which justified their retention in the post-war era and brought them back to active duty on three different occasions.

These decisions come as U.S. naval and Coast Guard leaders warn that the nation’s shipyards and industrial base lag significantly behind China’s maritime production capacity.

Trump-Class Technical Specifications

Dimensions & Performance

• Length: 840–880 ft
• Beam: 105–115 ft
• Draft: 24–30 ft
• Displacement: >35,000 t
• Speed: 30+ kts
• Crew: 650–850
• Class Size: 20–25 ships

Armament

Main Battery

• Surface Launch Cruise Missile–Nuclear (SLCM-N)
• 12 cells CPS
• 128 cells Mk 41 VLS

Secondary Battery

• 1 × 32 MJ Railgun with HVP
• 2 × 5″ guns with HVP
• 2 × 300 kW or 2 × 600 kW lasers

Defensive Battery

• 2 × RAM launchers
• 4 × 30 mm guns
• 4 × ODIN lasers
• 2 × Counter-UxS systems

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