Trump: US Navy working on "three large aircraft carriers"

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Trump: US Navy working on "three large aircraft carriers"

2025-12-23 14:44 Last Updated At：12-24 12:59

U.S. President Donald Trump announced at a joint press briefing held with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at Mar-a-Lago on Monday that the U.S. Navy is working on "three large aircraft carriers" and will build 12 to 15 submarines.

He said the U.S. Navy will also build two Trump-class battleships with renderings of Trump-class USS Defiant being displayed at the press briefing. "They'll be the fastest, the biggest and by far, 100 times more powerful than any battleship ever built," Trump said.

Trump said he approved a Navy plan to begin the construction of two largest battleships ever built in the United States followed shortly by eight more, and ultimately aims to have a fleet of 20 to 25 ships. He also stated that the new battleships will be built with U.S. steel.

Trump said that these warships will have a displacement of 30,000 to 40,000 tons, equipped with hypersonic weapons, railguns, cruise missiles, and laser weapons, and will serve as the flagship of the U.S. Navy fleet.

The U.S. Department of Defense said in a statement released on Monday that the new Trump-class of ships are currently in the design phase, with construction of the first battleship, the USS Defiant, targeted for the early 2030s.

Gulf countries consider new pipelines to avoid Strait of Hormuz: Financial Times

Impact of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran is pushing Gulf countries to revisit costly plans for pipelines to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, so that they can continue to export oil and gas, the Financial Times newspaper reported on Thursday.

"Officials and industry executives say new pipelines may be the only way to reduce Gulf countries' enduring vulnerability to disruption in the strait, even though such projects would be expensive, politically complex and take years to complete," said the report.

"Previous plans for pipelines across the region have repeatedly stalled, undone by high costs and complexity," it said.

The Strait of Hormuz is a vital global energy corridor bordered by Iran to the north.

Around a fifth of global liquefied natural gas supply passed through the Strait of Hormuz, which also carries about one quarter of global seaborne oil trade.

Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and several other Iranian cities on Feb. 28, killing Iran's then Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, along with senior military commanders and civilians. Iran responded with waves of missile and drone strikes against Israel and U.S. assets in the Middle East, while tightening control over the Strait of Hormuz by restricting passage to vessels belonging to or affiliated with Israel and the United States.