The White House is requesting $66 billion in funding to build 34 new Naval ships. This includes a class of battleships President Trump touted last year, part of what he calls “The Golden Fleet.”
It’s part of a one-and-a-half trillion dollar defense budget request for fiscal year 2027.The White House says this proposal would reduce non-defense spending by 10%.
President Donald Trump’s massive $1.5 trillion defense budget request includes $65.8 billion for Navy shipbuilding. It also establishes the new Golden Fleet, providing funding for the new Trump-class battleship, the White House said.
The fiscal year 2027 shipbuilding request is a marked increase over last year, underscoring the Trump administration’s push to expand the fleet and industrial base.
On Friday, the White House released its budget proposals for the upcoming fiscal year beginning in October. The $1.5 trillion request is a 44% increase and the highest in decades
“The budget restores the readiness and lethality of the force by ensuring America’s warfighters are trained, equipped, and medically ready to fight and win,” the White House’s overview says.
Key to that is more funding for shipbuilding. “As waters around the world become increasingly contested, it is imperative that the United States be able to efficiently deliver the various naval platforms it requires, including both battle force and auxiliary vessels, to ensure maritime domain awareness and deterrence,” the overview document said.
The White House shipbuilding request supports the construction of 18 battle force ships and 16 non-battle force ships, twice the number requested last year.
The budget request includes initial funding for the Golden Fleet, its centerpiece Trump-class battleship, and next-generation frigates. The new funding request also supports work on the Columbia-class and Virginia-class submarines, critical naval capabilities. It’s unclear where these vessels fit into the procurement plan.
The broader White House plan also funds sealift and hospital ships, tankers, submarine tenders, and shipyard upgrades aimed at easing production delays.
US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Bryan Mai
The Trump administration announced its plans for the “Golden Fleet” last December, as well as its desire to construct a new Trump-class battleship as flagship vessels. These ships are intended to deliver “dominant firepower and a decisive advantage over adversaries by integrating the most advanced deep-strike weapons of today with the revolutionary systems of the years ahead,” the Navy said.
John Phelan, the secretary of the Navy, said last December that “the future Trump-class battleship, the USS Defiant, will be the largest, deadliest and most versatile and best-looking warship anywhere on the world’s oceans.”
The White House budget request also funds the Golden Dome missile defense system and artificial intelligence adoption and continues the development of the Air Force’s F-47 sixth-generation fighter, with a first flight planned for 2028.
Additionally, the request points to 12 “critical munitions” that it plans to procure. One of DoD’s highest funding priorities, the overview said, these munition investments “would generate expanded capacity in America’s defense industrial base, providing a foundation for future scalable munitions production.”
The White House didn’t respond to a request on what those munitions are. Recent deals between industry and the Pentagon have expanded and accelerated orders for more Tomahawk cruise missiles, as well as Standard Missile-6 interceptors, Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) interceptors, and Precision Strike Missiles. These weapons have gotten a workout in the Middle East.
Drones and counter-drone technologies are also listed in the budget as priorities, with the White House saying it is seeking “unprecedented investments” in these systems.
The request said “this funding would arm America’s military combat units with drones while also providing protection against the proliferation of inexpensive and proliferated unmanned systems by near-peer competitors, rogue states, and non-state actors.”
US budget carrier Spirit Airlines says it is downsizing its fleet by almost two-thirds.
The Florida-headquartered air carrier, known for its no-frills flying and ultra-low-cost fares, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August — the second time in less than a year.
While it once operated more than 200 aircraft, Spirit now intends to run fewer than 80 by the third quarter of 2026. It anticipates adding aircraft between 2027 and 2030.
In a news release, Spirit said it will continue to align its network with consumer demand and focus on its strongest routes and markets, including Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Detroit, and New York City. It also plans to expand its first class and premium economy options.
The company said it expected its debt and lease obligations to be reduced from $7.4 billion pre-filing to about $2 billion post-emergence.
“While we still have work to do with other important stakeholders, today’s agreements and filings are very material steps forward toward emergence,” Spirit’s president and CEO, Dave Davis, said in a press release. “I also want to thank our team members and guests for their support as we work together to build a stronger Spirit.”
Spirit first sought bankruptcy protection in November 2024, following years of mounting financial losses and the collapse of a proposed $3.8 billion merger deal with JetBlue.
The budget airline, easily recognizable by its bright yellow planes, reported in its initial voluntary bankruptcy petition that as of September that year, it had $9.49 billion in total assets and $8.99 billion in total debts.
Spirit emerged from bankruptcy in March last year after the airline said it slashed $800 million in debt and received a $350 million equity infusion from existing investors “to support Spirit’s future initiatives,” but the rebound was short-lived.
In a Securities and Exchange Commission quarterly report filed last August, the airline’s parent company, Spirit Aviation Holdings, warned it may not be able to stay in business another year. Later that month, the airline filed for bankruptcy protection for a second time and has been cutting costs ever since. At the time of its filing, Spirit listed debt of $8 billion and assets of $8.56 billion.
President Donald Trump on Monday shared details about new additions to what he’s calling the US Navy’s “Golden Fleet.”
Two “Trump-class” ships, which the president described as “battleships,” were announced Monday afternoon at a press conference alongside Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, Navy Secretary John Phelan, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Trump said they would be “AI-controlled” and have “lasers,” and he said that the design would be led by the US Navy with his aesthetic input.
The first of these ships will be called the USS Defiant, Phelan said. Posters of the warship were on display at the press conference held at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida.
“We’re desperately in need of ships, and I have approved a plan for the Navy to begin construction of two large battleships,” he said. “We used to build the Iowa, the Missouri, the Alabama. These will be 100 times the force and power. Each one of these will be the largest battleships built in the history of our country.”
The president said that eventually “20 to 25” of the “Trump-class” ships will be made, and construction will start “immediately.”
The ships will be triple the size of an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, according to the US Navy, and they will be capable of launching Conventional Prompt Strike hypersonic missiles and the Surface Launch Cruise Missile-Nuclear.
