US President Donald Trump has announced plans to build a new class of American battleships, reviving a warship category long considered obsolete and framing the move as a dramatic answer to what he describes as America’s growing naval vulnerability. Speaking from his Mar-a-Lago residence on December 22 during what the White House labeled a “major announcement,” Trump claimed the proposed vessels would be “100 times more powerful” than any battleship ever constructed, signaling a bold – and controversial – shift in US naval strategy.

Flanked by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of the Navy John Phelan, Trump outlined plans to approve construction of two ships initially, with the longer-term ambition of expanding the fleet to as many as 25 vessels. Dubbed the “Trump-class,” the ships would form the core of what the president called the Navy’s future “Golden Fleet.”

According to Trump, the proposed battleships would dwarf the iconic Iowa-class ships of World War II and the Cold War era. They would reportedly be equipped with hypersonic missiles, electromagnetic rail guns, and advanced laser weapons – technologies that remain at varying stages of development and deployment across the US military.

“The fastest, the biggest, and by far the most powerful,” Trump declared. “As you know, we’re desperately in need of ships.”

The announcement immediately raised eyebrows among naval analysts, many of whom have long viewed battleships as relics rendered obsolete by aircraft carriers, submarines, and long-range missile systems. The US Navy officially retired its last battleships in the 1990s, concluding that their immense cost, crew requirements, and vulnerability to modern weapons outweighed their........

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