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U.S. President Donald Trump announced Monday that the U.S. Navy will construct a new class of warships bearing his name, describing the vessels as the most powerful battleships ever built by any nation.
The Trump-class battleships will be larger, faster and 100 times more powerful than the biggest warships previously constructed by the United States, according to the president. The initiative will begin with two ships and eventually expand to a fleet of 20 to 25 vessels.
Speaking to journalists at his Florida estate, Trump said the ships would represent "the largest battleship in the history of our country, the largest battleship in the history of the world ever built."
The announcement came during a gathering of top national security officials at Mar-a-Lago, which the White House billed as a major announcement.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Navy Secretary John Phelan attended the event focused on the shipbuilding initiative, according to a White House official who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.
The defense meeting occurred as the U.S. Coast Guard intensified efforts to intercept oil tankers in the Caribbean Sea, part of an escalating four-month campaign targeting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government.
Coast Guard vessels on Monday pursued a sanctioned tanker for the second consecutive day, described by the administration as part of a "dark fleet" Venezuela uses to evade U.S. sanctions. The tanker operates under a false flag and is subject to a U.S. judicial seizure order, the official said.
The pursuit marks the third such operation in recent weeks. On Saturday, Coast Guard forces seized the Panama-flagged vessel Centuries, which U.S. officials identified as part of the Venezuelan shadow fleet. Another tanker, the Skipper, was seized on Dec. 10 with Navy assistance.
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