U.S. Navy Plans To Build 15 Nuclear-Powered Trump-Class Battleships

The U.S. Navy plans to build 15 Trump-class battleships over the next 30 years in what the service described as a major naval project, according to its 2026 shipbuilding plan released Monday. The Trump-class battleships will use nuclear reactors for propulsion.

They will not replace the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, the Navy said. The vessels are intended to operate as part of a high-low mix of naval forces. Rear Adm. Ben Reynolds told reporters in April that the Navy intends to spend $43.5 billion on future battleships over the next five years, USNI News reported.

That funding level implies each ship could cost as much as $14.5 billion. >"The nuclear-powered battleship is designed to provide the fleet with a significant increase in combat power by longer endurance, higher speed, and accommodating advanced weapon systems required for modern warfare," the Navy plan reads.

com) The plan states that the battleship's primary role is to deliver high-volume, long-range offensive fires and to serve as a robust, survivable forward command and control platform. It is not a destroyer replacement.

President Trump announced the ships in December 2025, according to a Navy press release. The U.S.S. Defiant, designated BBG 1, will be the first of the class. All of the ships will form part of the Navy's Golden Fleet initiative. The $43.5 billion projection for the initial five years suggests the Trump-class ships would exceed the $13 billion cost of the U.S.S. Gerald Ford aircraft carrier, Fortune reported.

The first Trump-class battleship is scheduled for delivery in 2036.

Trump's defense budget for 2027 increases defense spending by $1.5 trillion, a rise of 40% to 44%. Of that total, $68.5 billion is allocated to the U.S. shipbuilding industrial base to address an ongoing shipbuilding gap with China, which leads the world in ship construction.

The Navy expects to have a fleet of 299 warships by 2031 under the new plan. That number falls short of the service's stated requirement of 355 ships.