Videos: New 'Golden Fleet' of Navy battleships revealed by Trump admin

President Donald Trump announced on Monday that the U.S. Navy will be building a new  “Golden Fleet” and that plans have already been approved for two “very large battleships” that will be “100 times more powerful” than any other battleships. 

During a televised event from Mar-a-Lago on Monday, the president was joined by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Navy Secretary John Phelan for the announcement of the administration’s “Golden Fleet.” 

“I want to wish everybody a big hello and Merry Christmas and welcome to Mar-a-Lago for this exciting announcement of the new ‘Golden Fleet,’” Trump said. “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.”

As commander in chief, it is my great honor to announce that I have approved a plan for the Navy to begin the construction of two brand new, very large, largest we’ve ever built, battleships,” Trump continued.

The president explained that the design process for the two new battleships was started during his first administration and has remained ongoing “for a long time.” Trump noted that the new battleships will be the “best in the world,” the “fastest,” the “biggest,” and “100 times more powerful than any battleship ever built.” 

A rendering of the USS Defiant, the first new battleship that will be built, was shared by the White House on X, formerly Twitter.

In a statement on its website, the U.S. Navy wrote, “America’s next battleship, the USS Defiant, will be part of a new class of large surface combatants with the most destructive fire power of any surface ship to ever sail — having the ability to strike an adversary at 80x the range of the previous class. The Trump-class Battleship will be the first-ever guided missile battleship with the ability to deploy with nuclear and hypersonic missiles.”

According to the Navy’s website, the new battleship will be able to operate independently, command a surface action group, or aid a carrier strike group.

According to Fox News, Trump confirmed that the Navy will quickly start building the two new battleships, which are expected to be completed within two and a half years, and that the Navy aims to eventually build 20 to 25 new ships. The outlet noted that the Navy currently has roughly 294 warships in operation, while China has over 370 ships. 

Asked whether the new battleships were an effort to “counter” China, Trump told reporters, “It’s a counter to everybody. It’s not China; we get along great with China. I have a great relationship with President Xi.”