VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — “The Trump-class battleship, I mean, it is a harebrained idea,” said Elaine Luria during an interview with News 3 on Nov. 5.
That assessment sets the stage for a high-stakes clash in Washington after Democrats won control of Congress in last week’s elections. President Donald Trump has championed the new class of nuclear-powered warships to project global military supremacy and revive domestic manufacturing, but the incoming legislative majority promises intense scrutiny over the program’s price tag and operational feasibility.
Announced on December 22, 2025, as part of the Golden Fleet initiative, the BBGN program represents a major pivot from standard destroyer development. The Navy plans to procure 15 ships between 2028 and 2056, beginning with lead ship Defiant (BBGN-1). Displacing approximately 35,000 tons or more at full load, these surface combatants would measure between 840 and 880 feet in length and carry a crew of approximately 650 to 850 personnel.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates the first ship would cost about $23 billion. Because the warships require nuclear propulsion, the Navy expects assembly to take place at Newport News Shipbuilding. A spokesperson for HII, the shipyard’s parent company, previously told News 3 that the company stands ready to support the Navy’s requirements.
Yet that heavy nuclear footprint is precisely what worries lawmakers like Elaine Luria, a Navy veteran and former member of Congress hoping to once again serve on the House Armed Services Committee. While some critics focus purely on the vessel’s political moniker, Luria pointed to a much deeper systemic risk.
People are up in arms because they’re naming it after Trump, but I’m the most concerned about what this is going to do to our industrial base.
Luria questioned how adding another nuclear-powered vessel would impact ongoing submarine construction and other Navy priorities. With the new Congress taking office in January, the Trump-class battleship faces an uphill battle to secure funding without exhaustive defense-spending reviews.
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