Trump announces new ‘Golden Fleet’ of Navy battleships: What we know

Trump unveils Navy battleship plan, 'Golden Fleet'

We are learning more from President Donald Trump as he announces a new fleet of ships on Monday, known as the "Golden Fleet". President Trump revealed he has already approved plans for two new "very large battleships." Reports indicate that the project will start with 2 battleships and could potentially include as many as 25. "As you know, we're desperately in need of ships," Trump said, flanked by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Navy Secretary John Phelan.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - President Donald Trump, who is vacationing at his Mar-a-Lago resort, gathered with top national security officials for what the White House has called a "major announcement." 

The president announced plans to build a new, large warship that Trump is calling a "battleship" and is part of this larger vision to create a "Golden Fleet." 

US President Donald Trump announces the US Navy's new Golden Fleet initiative, unveiling a new class of frigates, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on December 22, 2025. (Credit: ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images)

Trump expected to announce plans to build new warship

What we know:

Trump is calling the new warship a "battleship" and is part of his larger vision to create a "Golden Fleet" that includes as many as 50 support ships, according to people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to comment publicly.

According to Trump, the ship will be longer and larger than the World War II-era Iowa-class battleships and will be armed with hypersonic missiles, rail guns, and high-powered lasers — all technologies that are still being developed by the Navy.

What they're saying:

"We're calling it the Golden Fleet that we're building for the United States Navy. As you know, we're desperately in need of ships. Our ships are some of them have gotten old and tired and obsolete," Trump said. 

He continued: "There's never been anything like these ships. These have been under design consideration for a long time. And it started with me in my first term because I said, 'why aren't we doing battleships like we used to?' And 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."

He said Monday he will also have a direct role in designing this new warship.

"The U.S. Navy will lead the design of these ships along with me, because I’m a very aesthetic person," Trump said.

Big picture view:

The meeting comes as the U.S. Coast Guard steps up efforts to interdict oil tankers in the Caribbean Sea as part of the Republican administration's escalating pressure campaign on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's government.

Just a month ago, the Navy scrapped its plans to build a new, small warship, citing growing delays and cost overruns, deciding instead to go with a modified version of a Coast Guard cutter that was being produced until recently. The sea service has also failed to build its other newly designed ships, like the new Ford-class aircraft carrier and Columbia-class submarines, on time and on budget.

Historically, the term battleship has referred to a very specific type of ship — a large, heavily armored vessel armed with massive guns designed to bombard other ships or targets ashore. This type of ship was at the height of prominence during World War II, and the largest of the U.S. battleships, the Iowa-class, were roughly 60,000 tons.

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After World War II, the battleship's role in modern fleets diminished rapidly in favor of aircraft carriers and long-range missiles. The U.S. Navy did modernize four Iowa-class battleships in the 1980s by adding cruise missiles and anti-ship missiles, along with modern radars, but by the 1990s all four were decommissioned.

Trump has long held strong opinions on specific aspects of the Navy’s fleet, sometimes with a view toward keeping older technology instead of modernizing.

During his first term, he unsuccessfully called for the return to steam-powered catapults to launch jets from the Navy’s newest aircraft carriers instead of the more modern electromagnetic system.

He has also complained to Phelan about the look of the Navy’s destroyers and decried Navy ships being covered in rust.

On a visit to a shipyard that was working on the now-canceled Constellation-class frigate in 2020, Trump said he personally changed the design of the ship.

"I looked at it, I said, ‘That’s a terrible-looking ship, let’s make it beautiful,’" Trump said at the time.