On December 22, 2025, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. President Donald Trump announced ambitious plans for a new “Trump-class” battleship. Trump touted the vessel as “the fastest, the biggest, and by far, 100 times more powerful than any battleship ever built,” calling it an essential addition to the U.S. Navy that would “maintain American military supremacy” and instill fear in adversaries globally. However, experts quickly pointed out a significant flaw in this vision: battleships have been rendered obsolete for decades.
The last battleship was commissioned over 80 years ago, with the U.S. Navy retiring its last Iowa-class vessels nearly 30 years back. Once dominant symbols of naval power, battleships have been eclipsed by aircraft carriers and modern destroyers equipped with advanced long-range missile systems. By labeling these new surface combatants as “battleships,” Trump may be misrepresenting the needs of contemporary naval warfare.
Mark Cancian, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), dismissed the announcement as a fantasy, asserting, “There is little need for said discussion because this ship will never sail.” He emphasized that the lengthy design process and prohibitive costs would likely result in the program being scrapped by future administrations. Bernard Loo, a senior fellow at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, echoed this sentiment, calling the proposal more of a “prestige project” akin to Japan’s WWII-era battleships, which met their demise at the hands of carrier-launched aircraft before making significant contributions in combat.
Loo highlighted the idea that a battleship’s sheer size-displacing over 35,000 tons and spanning more than 840 feet-might make it a “bomb magnet.” He warned that the vessel’s grandeur could attract enemy targeting, compromising its strategic viability. Bryan Clark from the Hudson Institute noted that Trump may be captivated by the symbolic allure of battleships, which historically showcased naval dominance throughout the 20th century.
Despite their nostalgic value, battleships last saw combat in 1991 during the Gulf War when retrofitted Iowa-class ships provided shore bombardment – an argument against their modern relevance. Clark mentioned the USS Missouri, which hosted the Japanese surrender in 1945, highlighting the historical weight these ships carry in American naval lore.
The Navy’s current strategy leans towards distributed operations, focusing on smaller, agile vessels to mitigate vulnerabilities. Cancian argued that the proposed Trump-class would contradict this approach by concentrating firepower in a few large, costly, and potentially defenseless ships. If realized, the Trump-class battleship could cost two to three times more than today’s Arleigh-Burke destroyers, which currently average around $2.7 billion each, pushing the cost of a single battleship into the $8 billion range-excluding the accompanying expenses for crewing and maintenance.
As discussions surrounding the Trump-class battleship unfold, analysts stress that even if the concept proves technically viable, the financial implications could present insurmountable obstacles. Loo critiqued the proposal as a strategic miscalculation-a manifestation of “strategic hubris” that could further strain the Navy’s already limited budget.
In conclusion, while the idea of a new battleship may sound appealing, the realities of modern naval warfare and fiscal constraints suggest that this dream may remain just that-a dream.
Original Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/26/trump-class-battleship-uss-defiant-golden-fleet-rail-gun-laser-reality-defense-war-experts-skeptical.html
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Publish Date: 2025-12-26 13:23:00
