Trump-class battleship

Background

USS Missouri in 1991 after returning from the Gulf War. The Iowa-classes were constructed during World War II and were the last ships operated by the U.S. Navy to be classified as battleships.

USS Zumwalt in 2016. The Zumwalt-class destroyer are the largest surface combatant ships currently operated by the U.S. Navy and were designed in part to replace gunfire support and other capabilities of the Iowa class.

The U.S. Navy has not had a battleship in commission since the retirement of the last Iowa-class battleship USS Missouri in 1992.^[9] There have been no plans for new ones since the cancellation of the Montana class in 1943.^[10]

The retirement of the Iowa class led to a battleship retirement debate on how the Navy should replace their capabilities. The Zumwalt-class destroyer was developed to replace their gunfire support function, but the class was cancelled after only three ships were constructed.^[11][12] The Navy also launched studies into a Future Surface Combatant (FSC) to replace the Ticonderoga-class cruisers—which will reach the end of their service lives in the 2020s—as well as older flights of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer.^[13] The FSC evolved into the Large Surface Combatant (LSC) program, which became the DDG(X). The DDG(X) program office was established in June 2021.^[14][15]

Rear Admiral Derek Trinque revealed in January 2026 that the development of the DDG(X) ran into constraints as the hull lacked the capability to accommodate the desired number of VLS for Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) missiles and a gun-mount. The U.S. Navy considered building two DDG(X) variants, but pivoted to a larger vessel capable of accommodating both after the Trump administration showed interest in a modern battleship, which became the Trump-class.^[16][17] Vice Admiral Brendan McLane, commander of Naval Surface Force, also stated that the flight III Arleigh Burke class could no longer accommodate new systems.^[18]

Development

On 22 December 2025, U.S. president Donald Trump announced the Trump-class, with two ships to be initially constructed of 10 planned, and eventual plans for "between 20 and 25" as part of a "Golden Fleet".^[5][19] The first ship is planned to be named USS Defiant (BBG-1).^[20] John Phelan, then U.S. Secretary of the Navy, said the ships would carry conventional guns and nuclear-armed cruise missiles.^[21] Trump stated that the ships would be domestically built at the Hanwha Philly Shipyard, owned by South Korean conglomerate Hanwha Group.^[22]

The announcement of the class came amidst warnings by U.S. officials that Chinese shipbuilding has surpassed the United States in capacity and output, and is part of the Trump administration's goal to enlarge the U.S. Navy and revitalize the U.S. shipbuilding industry.^[19][23]

The Department of Defense (DoD, also referred to as the Department of War) stated that the BBG(X) program will replace the DDG(X) program, incorporating technology and capabilities from the latter into the former.^[24]

Phelan helped conceive the class to gain favor with President Trump, but was ousted in April 2026. The administration did not state a reason for Phelan's removal, but Politico and The New York Times reported that anonymous DoD officials said that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Deputy Secretary of Defense Steve Feinberg had grown frustrated with his advocacy of the expensive battleships, which they felt was impeding construction of the smaller and cheaper warships they prioritized, such as uncrewed surface vessels. His ouster was thought to represent a setback for the class.^[25][26] The Times reported that Phelan "struggled to come up with a plan to deliver the [battleships] on the nearly impossible timeline that Mr. Trump had demanded", and told Trump that the ships might need to be built in European shipyards to meet the schedule, which Trump would not accept.^[26]

Planned armament

According to the navy, ships of the class are planned to include, as part of their primary battery, a Surface Launch Cruise Missile Nuclear (SLCM-N) system, a 12-cell Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) hypersonic missile system, and a 128-cell Mark 41 vertical launching system (VLS). A secondary battery is planned to consist of a 32-megajoule railgun, two 5-inch/62-caliber (127 mm) guns, and a pair of either 300 or 600-kilowatt laser weapons. A defensive battery is planned with two RAM launchers, four Mark 38 30 mm machine gun system, four ODIN lasers, and two anti-drone systems. The ships are also planned to have an enclosed hangar for VTOL aircraft such as helicopters, the V-22 Osprey and other, future vertical-lift manned and unmanned aircraft.^[3] However, the United States Naval institute say that the lasers, nuclear cruise missiles and the railgun are potential additions to the base design, which they stated as including the same number of VLS and CPS missile cells and "five-inch guns".^[4] General Atomics announced in January 2026 that discussions with the U.S. Navy on the "role of railguns" for the Trump-class had begun.^[27]

Directed energy weapons such as megawatt-class (1000 kilowatts) lasers could be installed to combat threats closing in on the ship, which would represent an upgrade to the existing ODIN and HELIOS laser weapon systems currently in use in U.S. Navy ships. The War Zone notes that HELIOS operates at 60 kilowatts, while ODIN is not as powerful as HELIOS.^[28]

Design

Analysts commenting on the preliminary Trump-class design expressed doubts that the ships will enter service because they have not been funded and their unique and unprecedented design will make development costly and slow.^{[29][30][31][32]}

The classification of the Trump-class ship as a battleship has been questioned. Mark Cancian with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) wrote that the term has historically been used for warships with large guns, such as 16-inch guns, and heavy armor, which Trump-class would lack, and that the ship's profile is more typical of a guided-missile "battlecruiser" like Russia's Kirov class.^[33] According to the U.S. Naval Institute, the definition of the term "battleship" has evolved over the ages, from wooden ships with many guns (ship of the line [of battle]), through to the 20th-century usage of high-caliber gunned ships with heavy armor. The ship is meant to survive in a fleet battle, and thus armor is not definitional to the core of the battleship. The importance of the large gun debate depends upon whether the gun is the most important component of the ship's firepower.^{[34][better source needed]}

CNN analyst Stephen Collinson states that the procurement of the Trump class would likely revive the battleship retirement debate.^[35] Cancian writes that the ship "will never sail" as its high cost will prompt "A future administration [to] cancel the program before the first ship hits the water".^[33]

U.S. labor force

Some have questioned whether the United States has an adequate labor force to build the ships in American shipyards.^[36][37] This argument notes that during World War II, tens of thousands of men and women worked in shifts around the clock at each of the U.S. naval yards that produced the Iowa-class. More than 71,000 people were employed at the Brooklyn Navy Yard alone.^[29] Cancian notes that U.S. shipbuilders were so short of skilled labor in 2025 that they had been increasing wages to attract workers from competing yards.^[33]

The Congressional Research Service states that the U.S. Navy intends to award contracts to multiple shipbuilders for the construction of a Trump-class battleship. The report identifies three capable shipyards: Bath Iron Works and Ingalls Shipbuilding, each of which have built every U.S. Navy cruiser and destroyer since 1985; and Newport News Shipbuilding, which specializes in the construction and overhauling of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.^[2]

Trump had previously indicated that the ships would be built at Hanwha Philly Shipyard.^[22] The yard has only ever built commercial vessels as of January 2026^[update] and lacks any experience with defense-related contracts.^[38] After Hanwha's acquisition of the financially struggling shipyard in 2024, it had in August 2025 pledged an investment toward a $5 billion infrastructure plan, with a goal to eventually build warships.^[39]

Name

The Trump-class name would not follow United States ship naming conventions. American battleships have been named after U.S. states, with the exception of USS Kearsarge, a pre-dreadnought battleship ordered in 1895;^[40][41] while names of presidents have been used for aircraft carriers before,^[32][42] naming a warship after a living person, once rare, is no longer unusual in the United States,^[42] though it is atypical for presidents to name things after themselves. The naming came in the context of the recent addition of Trump's name to the Kennedy Center and the U.S. Institute of Peace, as well as the new Trump account and Trump Gold Card.^[43]