White House Set to Announce New Warship as Part of Trump’s “Golden Fleet” Initiative

WASHINGTON — The White House is poised to unveil plans for a new, large warship that President Donald Trump has referred to as a “battleship,” part of a broader maritime strategy dubbed the “Golden Fleet,” according to sources familiar with the initiative.

The announcement, expected Monday, will include plans for a new “surface combatant class” of vessel alongside as many as 50 support ships, according to retired Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, now a senior director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies who is familiar with the discussions.

This major naval expansion comes just one month after the Navy abandoned plans for a new small warship program due to mounting delays and cost overruns. Instead of continuing that project, the Navy opted for a modified version of a Coast Guard cutter that was in production until recently.

President Trump will make the announcement at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, joined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Navy Secretary John Phelan. The White House has characterized the upcoming event as a “major announcement” focused on a shipbuilding initiative, according to a White House official speaking on condition of anonymity.

The timing coincides with ongoing U.S. naval operations in the Caribbean, which Trump has described as efforts to combat illegal drug trafficking and increase pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s government.

While Montgomery supports the addition of more support vessels, he expressed skepticism about the proposal for a new battleship-type warship. Historically, battleships were massive, heavily armored vessels equipped with large guns designed to attack other ships or shore targets. These ships reached their apex during World War II, with the largest American battleships—the Iowa-class—weighing approximately 60,000 tons.

The relevance of battleships in modern naval warfare diminished rapidly after World War II, with aircraft carriers and long-range missile systems becoming the preferred platforms. Although the U.S. Navy modernized four Iowa-class battleships in the 1980s by adding cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles, and advanced radar systems, all were decommissioned by the 1990s.

The president has long demonstrated strong opinions about naval design and technology, often favoring traditional systems over modern innovations. During his first term, Trump advocated for a return to steam-powered catapults on the Navy’s newest aircraft carriers rather than the more advanced electromagnetic systems currently in use.

Trump’s attention to naval aesthetics has been particularly notable. Navy Secretary Phelan revealed during his confirmation hearing that the president “has texted me numerous times very late at night, sometimes after one (o’clock) in the morning” regarding “rusty ships or ships in a yard, asking me what am I doing about it.”

During a 2020 visit to a shipyard working on the now-canceled Constellation-class frigate, Trump claimed personal involvement in the vessel’s design. “I looked at it, I said, ‘That’s a terrible-looking ship, let’s make it beautiful,'” he stated at the time.

This new naval initiative represents a significant shift in U.S. shipbuilding strategy and could have far-reaching implications for the defense industry, military readiness, and America’s naval posture globally. Defense analysts note that such an ambitious program would require substantial congressional funding and would likely take years to implement fully.

Maritime experts suggest that the revival of a battleship-type vessel would face considerable technological and operational challenges in the modern threat environment, where anti-ship missiles, drones, and submarine warfare have fundamentally changed naval combat dynamics.

The announcement comes as the U.S. Navy continues to grapple with fleet size concerns amid growing competition from China, which has rapidly expanded its naval capabilities in recent years.