Trump-class battleship

In a press conference in December 2025, U.S. president Donald Trump announced a United States Navy guided-missile warship, to be called the Trump-class battleship.^[5][6][7][4] The class is also known as BBG(X)^[a] in some Navy documents,^[1] and is intended to initially consist of the lead ship USS Defiant (BBG-1) and an as-yet unnamed other vessel. If and when commissioned, the class is envisioned as adding a nuclear-capable cruise missile option to the U.S. Navy surface fleet.^[8]

The Trump administration intends to revitalize shipbuilding in the United States alongside the construction of the Trump-class. Analysts have expressed skepticism about the Trump-class battleship, citing its lack of funding, unprecedented design, and high development costs. Its classification as a battleship is debated, as it lacks the heavy armor and large-caliber guns typical of historical battleships. The naming of the class after an incumbent president has also broken traditional conventions.

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]

On 22 December 2025, U.S. president Donald Trump announced the Trump-class and that 2 ships would initially be constructed, with a total of 10 then 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] U.S. Secretary of the Navy John Phelan stated that the ships are planned to carry conventional guns and nuclear-armed cruise missiles.^[21] Trump stated that the ships are planned to be domestically built at the Hanwha Philly Shipyard, owned by South Korean conglomerate Hanwha Group.^[22]

The announcement of the class comes 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 states that the BBG(X) program will replace the DDG(X) program, incorporating technology and capabilities from the latter into the former.^[24]

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.^[25]

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.^[26]

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.^{[27][28][29][30]}

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.^[31] However, 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.^[32]

CNN analyst Stephen Collinson states that the procurement of the Trump class would likely revive the battleship retirement debate.^[33] 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".^[31]

Some have questioned whether the United States has an adequate labor force to build the ships in American shipyards.^[34][35] 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.^[27] Cancian notes that U.S. shipbuilders were so short of skilled labor in 2025 that they have been increasing wages to attract workers from competing yards.^[31]

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 and lacks any experience with defense-related contracts.^[36] 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.^[37]

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;^[38][39] while names of presidents have been used for aircraft carriers before,^[30][40] naming a warship after a living person, once rare, is no longer unusual in the United States,^[40] 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.^[41]

• Arsenal ship, post–Cold War missile-truck large warship concept
• CG(X), cancelled post–Cold War U.S. guided-missile cruiser project
• DDG(X), current post–Cold War U.S. guided-missile destroyer project
• K-1000 battleship, early–Cold War speculated Soviet missile battleship design
• Kirov-class battlecruiser, late–Cold War Soviet heavy-missile battlecruiser
• Aegis system equipped vessels (ASEV), Japanese large surface combatant under construction
• Strike cruiser, late–Cold War U.S. missile cruiser design
• USS Kentucky (BB-66), Iowa-class battleship considered for conversion to guided missile battleship while under construction in the 1950s; never completed

• Rogoway, Tyler; Trevithick, Joseph (22 December 2025). "What We Know About The Trump Class "Battleship"". The War Zone. Retrieved 23 December 2025.

• U.S. Navy, Golden Fleet