Full Breakdown
Trump’s “Golden Fleet” Battleship Plan Faces $275 Billion Cost Estimate
8/6/2026, 9:17:51 PM
Proposed Fleet and Design
Former President Donald Trump has promoted a new class of nuclear-powered surface combatants, dubbed the “Trump class.” The first vessel, the USS Defiant, would be equipped with sea-launched cruise missiles and a nuclear reactor. The plan calls for fifteen ships in total, each larger than current destroyers and cruisers—approximately 880 feet long with a full-load displacement of 35,000 tons, making them the biggest U.S. warships since World War II.
Cost Estimates and Shipbuilding Capacity
A Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis, requested by Senate Budget Committee ranking member Sen. Jeff Merkley, projects a total program cost of about $275 billion. The lead ship, the Defiant, is estimated at $23.4 billion—over $8 billion more than the Navy’s original projection—and would require roughly eight years to complete. The remaining fourteen vessels would average just over $18 billion each. The CBO warns that U.S. shipyards may lack the capacity to absorb such a surge in large-surface-combatant production. Bath Iron Works in Maine and Ingalls Shipbuilding in Mississippi have the expertise to build 35,000-ton hulls, but neither holds Navy certification for nuclear-powered construction, and both are already experiencing schedule pressures on existing destroyer programs.
Official and Expert Assessments
The CBO report notes that the Defiant would be more than three and a half times the size of an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and more than twice the size of a Zumwalt-class destroyer. Dr.
Lawmaker Criticism
Sen. He framed the proposal as a “massive military boondoggle” that would primarily benefit the military-industrial complex.
Verbatim Quote
- “It seems to be trying to do a bit of everything, and the problem with things that do everything is that they do none of them well,” — Dr. Emma Salisbury
