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President Donald Trump announced plans to build new battleships for the first time in more than 80 years, which he will name after himself, on Monday (December 22) via the New York Post.
The ships will be part of an upgrade to the Navy's Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers, which currently use models that valued at $2 billion, and the two-and-a-half year process will begin "immediately." The Navy ships will be equipped with large guns and capable of serving as the command vessel in attack campaigns.
The USS Missouri was the last battleship-class vessel commissioned by the U.S. government in 1944 and all previous battleships were named after states, while the new class will be named the "Trump-class."
“They will have 100 times the force, the power [of earlier warships], and there’s never been anything like these ships,” Trump said via the New York Post. “These have been under design consideration for a long time, and it started with me and my first term.”
“These cutting-edge vessels will be some of the most lethal Surface Warfare ships,” he added. “Each one of these will be the largest battleship in the history of our country, the largest battleship in the history of the world ever built.”
Trump's announcement came days after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that the Board of the Kennedy Center has reportedly "voted unanimously" to rename the natural cultural center to the Trump-Kennedy Center. The vote reportedly took place during a board meeting, which Trump personally called into, a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed to CNN.
The president had frequently joked about renaming the "Trump Kennedy Center" in the past prior to the reported vote. Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex-officio board member, attempted to object to the vote but was muted prior to the meeting being adjourned, the source confirmed.