‘Golden Fleet’: will Trump’s battleship plan deter China or is it just a pipe dream?
Donald Trump unveils new class of ship meant to ‘inspire fear in America’s enemies’, but analysts say the initiative faces huge hurdles
Trump unveiled a new class of navy battleships on Monday. These “Trump-class” ships will be larger, faster and “100 times more powerful” than any previously built, according to the American leader, forming the centrepiece of what he called an expanded “Golden Fleet” aimed at cementing US naval dominance.
In an announcement from his Mar-a-Lago estate, Trump declared that the new class of vessels would “inspire fear in America’s enemies all over the world”, though he did not name any specific countries.
Shi Yinhong, an international relations professor at Renmin University, said the battleship plan was “completely targeting” China. If realised, Shi said, it would strengthen America’s already advanced naval capabilities and significantly increase its control over the oceans.
Liselotte Odgaard, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington, said the new fleet involved “long-term strategic signalling and industrial base politics”.
“If funded and built, it would add a future flagship with hypersonic and nuclear-cruise options, but in the near term, Indo-Pacific deterrence still depends on distributed kill webs, littoral denial, and submarine and carrier readiness.”