President Donlad Trump seems to want to leave a big mark on the armed forces of the United States. On Monday, Trump unveiled plans for a new “Trump-class” battleship, declaring it would be “the fastest, the biggest, and by far, 100 times more powerful than any battleship ever built.”
The first vessel, he announced, would be named the “USS Defiant,” with an initial plan to construct two ships and the potential to expand the fleet.
According to the announcement, the Trump-class battleships are envisioned featuring advanced weapons systems such as hypersonic missiles, nuclear-capable cruise missiles, and directed-energy weapons like high-powered lasers. Trump framed the initiative as both a military and symbolic effort to reassert U.S. strength on the world stage.
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The plan has sparked debate among defense analysts and policymakers. Supporters argue that the ships could serve as a deterrent and reinforce U.S. naval capabilities, while critics have raised questions, noting that traditional battleships have largely been replaced by aircraft carriers, submarines, and multi-role surface vessels.
Mark Cancian, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, dismissed the idea, writing in a Dec. 23 commentary that “there is little need for said discussion because this ship will never sail.”
“A future administration will cancel the program before the first ship hits the water,” Cancian said.
Bernard Loo, senior fellow at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, described the proposal as “a prestige project more than anything else.”
“Historically, we looked at battleships and the bigger the better… [and] in a very layman’s perspective of strategy, size matters,” Loo said.
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Key details such as final designs, budgets, construction timelines, and congressional approval remain unresolved, and it is uncertain whether these ships will actually be built as announced. While the announcement generated widespread media coverage and public attention, the Trump-class battleships are currently a conceptual initiative, with significant engineering and logistical challenges before any construction could realistically begin.
Such high-profile proposals often serve as statements of intent, signaling priorities and projecting national strength, regardless of whether they ultimately come to fruition. The debate surrounding the initiative underscores the tension between symbolic gestures and practical defense considerations, with analysts weighing feasibility, cost, and strategic relevance.
Conceptual projects like this also highlight the broader challenges in modern military planning, where technological capabilities, resource allocation, and bureaucratic approval processes must align for a program to advance from idea to implementation. Even proposals that face skepticism can influence defense discourse, shaping how policymakers, experts, and the public view future force development.