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Snapshot 8:Tue, Dec 23, 2025 6:03:36 AM GMT last edited by Vandita

Trump Unveils New 'Trump Class' Fleet of Navy Battleships

Trump Unveils New U.S.'Trump NavyClass' BattleshipFleet Class,of LargestNavy Since WWIIBattleships

Are the Trump-class battleships a revival of American naval power, or a strategic misstep that will drain resources and overwhelm U.S. shipbuilding capacity?
Trump Unveils New 'Trump Class' Fleet of Navy Battleships
Above: Donald Trump announces the U.S. Navy's new class of battleships at Mar-a-Lago on Dec. 22, 2025. Image credit: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images

The Spin

The Trump-class battleship signals the return of American naval dominance through unmatched firepower and industrial revival. Armed with hypersonic and nuclear missiles — the first guided missile battleship with both — a single ship can strike targets at up to 80 times the range of current vessels, holding entire adversary coastlines at risk within minutes. Built quickly and reliably in American shipyards under the Golden Fleet initiative, the program restores U.S. shipbuilding capacity, creates jobs, and delivers the overwhelming deterrence that preserves peace through strength.

The Trump-class battleships are a strategic and industrial misstep. Reviving massive, concentrated surface ships abandoned by the Navy decades ago diverts resources from the DDG(X) program and the undersea fleet. China now dominates global shipbuilding and fields 2,000-mile missiles that make such ships highly vulnerable in modern warfare. With only two U.S. yards able to build them, construction will likely depend on allied support and modular foreign components, undermining domestic shipbuilding, inflating costs and leaving national security goals uncertain.

Metaculus Prediction

There's a 65% chance that if China launches an invasion of Taiwan before 2035, and the U.S. intervenes, China will attack the U.S., according to the Metaculus prediction community.



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© 2025 Improve the News Foundation. All rights reserved.Version 6.18.0

© 2025 Improve the News Foundation.

All rights reserved.

Version 6.18.0