Planned Trump-class battleship fleet could cost $275 billion, CBO reports

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s fleet of nuclear-powered battleships for the Navy could cost as much as $275 billion to develop and acquire through 2056, according to a new report.

The first Trump-class battleship is expected to cost $23.4 billion, with each subsequent ship costing around $18 billion, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said in a report released Wednesday.

Trump announced plans for the ship in late December, saying it will revive the American shipbuilding industry, “inspire fear” in adversaries and anchor a new Navy “Golden Fleet” of surface combatants, auxiliary ships and unmanned vessels.

“They’ll be the fastest, the biggest, and by far 100 times more powerful than any battleship ever built,” Trump said at the time alongside renderings of the proposed ship.

The CBO estimates that building 15 ships will cost taxpayers more than $275 billion, but Trump noted in his announcement that the Navy aims to have a fleet of 20 to 25 ships eventually.

A fleet of 25 ships could cost $455 billion, according to an estimate by the Senate Budget Committee.

The only Navy ships whose costs are comparable to CBO’s estimate for the ships are the Ford class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. The Navy currently has one Ford -class aircraft carrier, with three more under construction. CBO estimates that future Ford class ships under the Navy’s 2027 shipbuilding plan would cost about $22 billion each. The Navy’s plans call for a total of 10.

“While we continue to see too many Pentagon programs burdened by cost overruns, delays, and unrealistic promises that fail to meet reality, Congress cannot afford to commit to another massive military boondoggle that will only succeed in filling the coffers of the military-industrial complex,” Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., the top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee, said in a statement.

The CBO estimates that each ship will displace 35,000 tons but warns that if displacement increases to 41,000 tons, the cost per hull would rise by 16%.

That could push the total program cost to $528 billion, Merkley said.

Initial cost estimates for the first three Trump-class battleships totaled $43.5 billion, with the first ship projected to exceed $17 billion. The Navy plans to award the contract for the lead ship, the USS Defiant, in 2028, with delivery expected in 2036.

As envisioned, the battleship will be armed with hypersonic missiles and an electromagnetic rail gun — two weapons the Navy has yet to field. It will also carry conventional 5-inch guns along with a range of lasers and smaller guns.

Concerns over the technical feasibility of the proposed Trump-class battleship are prompting lawmakers to put the brakes on construction of the warship.

Navy leaders have defended the ship in congressional hearings, arguing the service needs a larger ship to accommodate more capability.

“We need significant payload volume for all future fights,” Adm. Daryl Caudle, the chief of naval operations, told the House Appropriations Committee’s defense subpanel in May. “We need that payload volume to scale not only with the munitions we’re going to have today but future munitions we don’t know.”

The House last month narrowly passed the $1.15 trillion defense policy bill amid rising tensions over military spending and the war with Iran. The bill includes funding for the “Golden Fleet.”

The Senate has not yet approved its version of the defense measure. It’s possible that a final version won’t be ready until after the midterm elections, The Associated Press reported.