Trump's ambitious "Golden Fleet" plan has been controversial since its inception. Its core project, the Trump-class battleship, is now also questioned as being unable to counter Chinese anti-ship ballistic missiles.
“Trump-class warships could become a prime target for China’s ‘aircraft carrier killers’?” On June 7, the Hong Kong English media outlet The South China Morning Post reported this topic. The U.S. House Armed Services Committee is worried that the “Golden Fleet” program might undermine the already strained capacity of the United States in building nuclear-powered ships, and has requested a detailed evaluation of the Trump-class warships project. One member of Congress also warned that in today’s modern naval warfare environment, these warships are very vulnerable against China’s Dongfeng-21D ballistic missiles, which are known as “aircraft carrier killers”.
After passing several amendments on the 4th Eastern Time, the U.S. House Armed Services Committee voted to pass the defense budget proposal for the fiscal year 2027.
One of the amendments proposed by Democratic Representative Joe Courtney was passed. The amendment requires the Secretary of the Navy to submit a report before March next year, describing how the planned ‘Trump’ class nuclear-powered battleships will be built, without interfering with existing nuclear-powered ship construction projects.
December 22, 2025, Donald Trump announced a plan to build a new warship called "Trump-Class" ship. IC Photo
In December last year, Trump announced plans for a "Trump"-class battleship, codenamed BBG(X), which will be a key component of the "Golden Fleet".
The amendment indicates that the committee is concerned that the timeline for building such nuclear-powered platforms is too aggressive, which could put pressure on American nuclear-powered shipyards and the maritime industry.
The document indicates that there are only two shipbuilders in the United States capable of building nuclear-powered ships. Only one of these builders still has a production line for surface ships. Additionally, the United States has only one supplier of naval nuclear reactors.
The amendment mentions that American shipbuilders have already faced delays in building the 'Ford'-class aircraft carriers, partly due to supply chain and labor constraints.
The document also emphasizes that the U.S. Navy has only one supplier for nuclear reactors. The procurement of reactors is usually two to three years ahead of the acquisition of ships, and the production process takes six to eight years.
Courtney is a member of the House Armed Services Committee’s "Naval Forces and Missile Programs Subcommittee". He also supported another amendment that attempted to reduce the funding for the battleship project by $1 billion, but that amendment was not passed.
Courtney criticized the allocation of funds for a ship without any design concept, stating that this was "in complete opposition to all the lessons we have learned from failed attempts at shipbuilding and vessel construction."
When referring to the sinking of the Russian cruiser 'Moscow' in April 2022, Courtney believed that this event demonstrated 'how severe the maritime confrontation environment we are in is'.
Ukraine claims that its 'Neptune' anti-ship missile struck the 'Moscow', but the Russian Ministry of Defense states that the sinking was caused by an explosion due to ammunition, which led to damage to the ship's structure and loss of stability.
Courtney described that compared to China’s Dongfeng-21 missiles, the Neptune missile is “like a toy gun”. He emphasized that what the United States needs is “distributed lethality”, rather than a “bulky and fragile battleship”.
Reports suggest that the Dongfeng-21 ballistic missile has a range of about 1,800 kilometers. Its version, Dongfeng-21D, is known as the world’s first anti-ship ballistic missile. The Dongfeng-26B ballistic missile, which can strike American Pacific territory such as Guam from within China, is also considered a “carrier killer”.
In December last year, the Trump administration proposed a plan to build a new class of battleships for the U.S. Navy, codenamed BBG(X). Here, “BB” stands for battleship, “G” represents missile guidance, and “X” indicates that the design is still in development.
Aircraft carriers serve as mobile air bases, while battleships are heavily armored warships equipped with naval artillery that can be used in direct surface combat.
Trump stated that these ships will be larger than the existing destroyers of the United States, and they will be equipped with artificial intelligence and directed-energy laser weapons. When asked whether these warships were intended to counter China, Trump dismissed this claim: “They are designed to respond to everyone. Not just China.”
The US Navy plans to purchase up to 15 BBG (X) battleships by 2055, with the first ship expected to be delivered in 2036. The United States has not built any battleships since the 1940s.
In January this year, then-U.S. Navy Secretary John Ferran warned at a Surface Naval Association seminar that America’s shipbuilding plans were “a mess” and unable to compete with China’s production capacity.
According to an assessment released by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington last September, China accounted for more than 53% of the world's commercial shipbuilding capacity in 2024, while the United States accounted for only 0.1%.
In December last year, CSIS wrote an article titled "The Golden Fleet Will Never Set Sail," predicting that it would not be possible to build new battleships during the Trump administration. The next government would cancel the project before the first ship was laid down.
“(The) U.S. naval forces have significantly declined, and their defense industrial capabilities have further diminished,” said analysts. “The U.S. wants to restore these capabilities, but it won’t happen overnight. It involves a lot of personnel training, financial investment, technological recovery, and even innovation.”
The next government will simply stop discussing this matter. Technically, it’s extremely difficult and complex. Coordinating so many elements is almost impossible.
