On Monday afternoon, President Donald Trump unveiled a new proposed class of warships for the United States Navy, which he said would be necessary to replace the “old and tired and obsolete” fleet. Trump called for modern “battleships”—which, in typical fashion for the 47th president, would be dubbed the Trump class.

“They’ll help maintain American military supremacy, revive the American shipbuilding industry, and inspire fear in America’s enemies all over the world,” Trump said from the library of his Mar-a-Lago mansion in Florida, where he was flanked by renderings of the future warships.

“The US Navy will lead the design of these ships along with me, because I’m a very aesthetic person,” Trump added.

The White House’s official social media account shared renderings of the vessels, with the caption “Navy’s new class of Large Surface Combatants: THE BATTLESHIP. The most lethal surface combatant ever constructed.”

The first new “battleship” would be named the USS Defiant (BBG-1)

“The future Trump-class battleship—the USS Defiant—will be the largest, deadliest and most versatile and best-looking warship anywhere on the world’s oceans,” Secretary of the Navy John Phelan said during the presentation. “Now there will be work for shipyards everywhere from Philadelphia to San Diego, from Maine to Mississippi, from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast, and for manufacturers that will build components for this battleship in every state.”

Trump also called for a new class of aircraft carriers, but offered few details.

The US Navy’s second Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier, the USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79), is now being fitted out and set for delivery by 2027. Two additional carriers of the class, the future USS Enterprise (CVN-80) and the USS Doris Miller (CVN-81), are now under construction, and two more—to be named for former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush—are on order.

The president has called for the construction of a “Golden Fleet” to allow the United States Navy to better counter China and other threats. At the center of this........

© The National Interest