The publication notes that the new fleet should provide better countermeasures to China and other potential threats. Trump has previously criticized the appearance of modern warships and is now actively involved in plans to update the fleet, WSJ notes. According to the newspaper's interlocutors, he has already had several conversations with representatives of the Navy about new ships.
U.S. Navy officials have dubbed the project “Golden Fleet,” following other such Trump-era initiatives such as the Golden Dome missile defense system and the Golden Card immigration program, the article said. The new fleet will consist of a number of large warships equipped with more powerful long-range missiles, as well as smaller ships such as corvettes, the sources said. The navy now has 287 ships, mostly destroyers, cruisers, aircraft carriers, amphibious assault ships and submarines. A new class of frigates is also being developed, media reports.
According to the WSJ, the White House and the Pentagon are in early talks to build a next-generation, heavily armored ship that could weigh 15,000 to 20,000 tons and carry more powerful weapons, even potentially hypersonic missiles, in greater numbers than current destroyers and cruisers.
Experts disagree on whether a super-large warship is needed to counter China, but say long-range missiles “are key to maintaining superiority in the Pacific.”
China is rapidly building new warships and modernizing existing ones, and the US military says it needs long-range missiles to overcome China's extensive air defenses, journalists state.
WSJ recalls that Trump promised to expand the fleet to 355 ships in his first term. But the Pentagon's plan to achieve this goal was not codified until the end of his tenure. His successor Joe Biden's team soon abandoned him and conducted its own analysis of the future of the fleet.
According to the Golden Fleet concept, the Navy wants to give up a certain number of ships as a target, sources said. In turn, officials will focus on a fleet of about 280 to 300 crew ships, as well as a large number of unmanned vessels called “robotic and autonomous systems.” The unmanned ships will act as a “defensive force” to make up the difference between what the fleet can produce on a daily basis and what might be needed during a potential conflict. At the same time, media interlocutors noted that the implementation of these plans will take more than one year and by then Trump may already leave the presidency.
Context
June 26 Reuters wrote that Trump wants to increase salaries for military personnel, add more drones and missiles in the defense budget next year, but also plans to cut jobs in the Navy. The 2026 military budget calls for a 3.8% pay rise for military personnel, but also cuts spending due to the withdrawal of old weapons, including ships and aircraft that are more expensive to operate. Funding will be used to contain Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific region and the revival of the defense industrial base, the agency noted.
Most of the spending for Trump's ambitious missile defense shield, called Golden Dome, is filed separately and not added to this budget request. At the same time, the House of Representatives has already added an initial $25 billion in funding for the project as part of a massive $150 billion defense package, Reuters reports.
