“Trump Class” USS Defiant, one of the warships announced by Donald Trump
The American president announced this Monday the construction of new warships for the United States Navy, which he called a “golden fleet”.
At a press conference at the White House, Donald Trump announced the construction of a new “Trump class” of warships, which will serve as a pillar for what he called “golden fleet” for the US Navy.
The announcement fulfills a long-standing objective of the US president: to give a personal touch to a fleet that he described as “old, tired and obsolete”.
The ships will reinforce more than five dozen contactorpedeiros of the class Arleigh Burke9,000 ton vessels that are currently one of the pillars of the fleet.
Donald Trump has devalued these ships, considering that they can no longer compete with ships from foreign naviesaccording to a Pentagon official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Navy officials said the new ship, which Trump described as “a battleship”, would displace more than 35,000 tonsmore than twice the largest surface combat ship currently in service, and which, in theory, would have the capacity to launch hypersonic missiles and cruise missiles with nuclear weapons, in addition to carrying more ammunition than current ships.
“They will help maintain American military supremacyrevitalizing the United States shipping industry and inspiring fear in America’s enemies around the world,” Trump said, alongside conceptual images of the new ships.
Since his first term, Trump has criticized the appearance of the fleet and defended the return to World War II era shipsarmed with 16-inch cannons, which were being replaced by aircraft carrierss — whose aircraft can hit targets at distances many hundreds of times greater.
The warships now presented by Trump are, however, a little different from the “” (which have been obsolete for decades) that the president stated in October that he was considering returning to the Navy.
When giving its own name to the new class of shipsTrump also continued a self-promotion line, by putting your stamp on different aspects of the federal government.
Just last week, Donald Trump’s name was added to the name of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Artsthe premier performing arts center in Washington. The institution’s board of directors, most of whose members were chosen by Trump, voted to change the name.
His name was also colocado no U.S. Institute of Peaceand Trump introduced gold decor similar to the signature image of his Mar-a-Lago club and residence into the Oval Office.
This Monday, he now seemed to be preparing to leave his mark in the Navy.
“We desperately need ships,” Trump said, adding that was involved in the design of the new warships. “Our ships — some of them have gotten old and tired and obsolete, and we’re going to do exactly the opposite.”
