Trump Unveils 'Trump Class' Battleships, Marking Return of Large Surface Combatants to U.S. Navy

Historic Naval Announcement at Mar-a-Lago

President Donald J. Trump officially announced the United States Navy's intent to develop a new class of large surface combatants, dubbed the 'Trump Class' battleships, on Monday, December 22, 2025. The announcement, made from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, signals a significant shift in U.S. naval strategy, introducing what are projected to be the largest surface combatants built by America since World War II.

Flanked by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of the Navy John Phelan, President Trump outlined the ambitious 'Golden Fleet' initiative, under which these new vessels will be constructed. The first ship of this class is slated to be named the USS Defiant (BBG-1), with construction targeted for the early 2030s. Initial plans call for two ships, with the potential to expand the fleet to between 10 and 25 hulls.

A New Era of Naval Power

The 'Trump Class' battleships are designed to be formidable assets, with a projected displacement ranging from 30,000 to 40,000 tons. This size is roughly three times that of an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and more than double the Zumwalt class, making them the largest U.S. surface combatants since the decommissioning of the Iowa-class battleships in the early 1990s. Secretary Phelan stated that the 'future Trump-class battleship – the USS Defiant – will be the largest, deadliest and most versatile and best-looking warship anywhere on the world's oceans'.

These vessels are intended to serve as flagships, capable of operating within a Carrier Strike Group for integrated air and missile defense or leading their own Surface Action Group. They will also incorporate unspecified artificial intelligence-driven capabilities and function as command and control platforms for both crewed and uncrewed systems.

Advanced Weaponry and Capabilities

The proposed armament for the 'Trump Class' battleships represents a significant leap in naval warfare technology. Key features include:

• Intermediate-Range Conventional Prompt Strike (IRCPS) hypersonic missiles, with 12 dedicated cells.
• A new nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missile (SLCM-N), restoring a surface-based nuclear strike capability to the U.S. Navy.
• Electromagnetic railguns and advanced laser directed energy weapons, including 300 kW or 600 kW systems for missile and drone defense, alongside Optical Dazzling Interdictor Navy (ODIN) systems.
• Multiple 5-inch naval guns and a substantial capacity of 128 Mk 41 Vertical Launch System (VLS) cells across three arrays.
• State-of-the-art sensor systems, including the SPY-6 AMDR radar and SEWIP Block III electronic warfare systems.
• A flight deck and enclosed hangar capable of supporting V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft and future vertical-lift platforms.

President Trump emphasized that these ships 'will be built right here in America', with construction expected to create thousands of jobs across U.S. shipyards. The estimated cost per ship could range from $10 to $15 billion. This initiative comes amidst increasing global strategic competition, particularly with China and Russia, and replaces previous plans for the DDG(X) destroyer class, integrating its planned capabilities into the new battleship design.