Trump Approves New Battleship Class for U.S. Navy

President Donald Trump announced on Monday that he has approved plans for the U.S. Navy to begin construction on a new class of battleships, marking the first such vessels in more than 80 years. Speaking at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, during the Christmas holiday period, Trump described the ships as the largest, fastest and most powerful ever built, designed to anchor a revitalized naval fleet.

The announcement, flanked by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Navy Secretary John Phelan and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, outlined the initial construction of two battleships with plans to expand the fleet to between 20 and 25 vessels. Dubbed the Trump-class, the ships will weigh between 30,000 and 40,000 tons and be constructed primarily from steel. They will feature advanced armaments, including guns, nuclear and conventional missiles, hypersonic weapons and high-powered lasers. The first ship, the USS Defiant, will carry a nuclear-armed, sea-launched cruise missile, according to Phelan.

"There's never been anything like these ships," Trump said. "They'll be the fastest, the biggest by far and 100 times more powerful than any battleship ever built." He emphasized...