Trump's 'Golden Fleet' Faces $275 Billion Price Tag, Budget Watchdog Says

President Donald Trump's proposal to build a fleet of 15 nuclear-powered guided missile battleships could cost an estimated $275 billion through 2056, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The lead vessel, the USS Defiant, is projected to cost $23.4 billion and require at least eight years to complete after its planned 2028 procurement, with each of the remaining 14 battleships estimated at roughly $18 billion.

Trump unveiled the new class of warships in December and later directed that they be redesigned to use nuclear propulsion instead of conventional engines. When introducing the program, he described the planned fleet as being "the fastest, the biggest and by far, 100 times more powerful than any battleship ever built," Noting that the ships would weigh more than 30,000 tons.

Switching to nuclear power raises procurement costs by approximately 13% compared to conventional design, the CBO found, though eliminating fuel purchases could reduce long-term operating expenses.

The agency warned that executing the Navy's 2027 shipbuilding strategy would require shipyards to more than than double their production of large surface combatants by 2035. The CBO also noted that Bath Iron Works in Maine and Ingalls Shipbuilding in Mississippi, which have built all of the Navy's large surface combatants over the past 40 years, are not currently planned to perform final assembly of the battleship.

The analysis was commissioned by Sen. Jeff Merkley, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee. Merkley stated that "Congress cannot afford to commit to another massive military boondoggle that will only succeed in filling the coffers of the military-industrial complex," And pledged to work to reject the project in favor of investments in programs benefiting families.

Sen. Jack Reed, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, argued that Trump's "Golden Fleet" Is misaligned with modern warfare's future. "That's not the way warfare is going to be done," Reed said, while acknowledging that "some" Have argued the ships could operate outside enemy kill zones using long-range missiles.