Donald Trump announces ‘Trump-class’ battleships for US Navy’s ‘Golden Fleet’

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Donald Trump has announced plans to build two “Trump-class battleships” for a new “Golden Fleet” for the US Navy, after criticising some vessels as “old”, “tired” and “obsolete”.

The president said construction of the shipsoutfitted with hypersonic weapons, electric railguns and high-powered lasers, would begin “almost immediately”, adding that there were discussions for up to 25 of the vessels to be built at a later date.

“These are the best in the world. They’ll be the fastest, the biggest and by far — 100 times more powerful than any battleship ever built,” Trump said. He did not say how much the ships would cost.

Trump urged defence companies broadly to invest money in production capabilities rather than in stock buybacks and dividends. He said he planned to discuss such issues with contractors at a meeting in Florida next week.

The timetable to build the vessels would be about two and a half years, Trump said.

The comments came as the US increases its pressure on Venezuela and its authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro over alleged drug trafficking. Since early September, the US has conducted at least 27 strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, killing at least 104 people.

On Sunday the US stepped up its enforcement of a blockade on Venezuelan oil by attempting to seize a sanctioned tanker, which fled into the Caribbean.

“We’re actually pursuing it,” said Trump on Monday. “Can you imagine?”

The announcement of the plans for the “Trump-class” ships came alongside defence secretary Pete Hegseth and the secretary of the Navy, John Phelan, at the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. He also said that the government would be “fixing up” the Navy’s headquarters.

Trump said the Navy would lead the design of the ships, although he planned to contribute “because I’m a very aesthetic person”. He added that secretary of state Marco Rubio and Hegseth would also be involved.

Phelan said the Trump-class ships would carry nuclear-armed, sea-launch cruise missiles.

“This new battleship will command everything from warships to drones and everything in between,” said Phelan. “We’re going to make battle groups great again.”