President Donald Trump has announced that the US will commission a new series of heavily armed Navy “battleships” named after himself, as part of a revamped “Golden Fleet”.

Construction on the Trump Class USS Defiant ships, which will be equipped to carry an array of weapons, is expected to begin soon, with Trump saying they will be operational in two-and-a-half years.

The announcement is part of a larger planned expansion of the US Navy by President Trump in both manned and unmanned vessels, including larger missile-armed warships and smaller vessels.

Officials have warned that the US currently lags behind China in both shipbuilding capacity and total output.

Speaking at his Mar-a-Lago golf club in Florida alongside defence secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of the Navy John Phelan on Monday, Trump said he approved the construction of two new battleships to start, with a plan to build up to 25.

“They’ll be the fastest, the biggest, and by far, 100 times more powerful than any battleship ever built,” Trump said.

Once completed, Trump said the armed vessels would be equipped to carry hypersonic and “extremely lethal” weapons, and would be the flagships of the US Navy.

Trump, who spoke while flanked on both sides with posters of renderings of the “Trump class” ships, said the vessels would be built domestically, and their construction would create “thousands” of jobs.

In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Phelan said that Trump had specifically asked for a “big, beautiful” battleship-type vessel as part of the fleet, which will also include dozens of support and transport vessels.

On 19 December, another new set of vessels, based on the US Coast Guard’s Legend-class National Security Cutter, were announced by the US Navy.

“Recent operations from the Red Sea to the Caribbean make the requirement undeniable – our small surface combatant inventory is a third of what we have,” Chief of Naval Operations Daryl Caudle said in a video statement about the new ships.

“We need more capable blue water small combatants to close the gap and keep our [destroyers] focused on the high-end fight,” he added.

A similar vessel, the Constellatio-class frigate – which Trump approved during his first term in office – was cancelled in 2024 after repeated delays and cost overruns.

Only two ships were reportedly expected to be delivered after approximately $2bn (£1.49bn) was spent on the project.

US officials and defence analysts have repeatedly warned that the US is lagging behind China, its main potential maritime rival, in shipbuilding capacity.

Over 60% of the world’s orders this year went to Chinese shipyards, and its navy is already the largest in the world.

Since returning to office in January, Trump has vowed to revive the US shipbuilding industry.

“We used to make so many ships,” Trump said in March. “We don’t make them very much, but we’re going to make them very fast, very soon. It will have a huge impact.”

In October, Trump and Finnish President Alexander Stubb penned a deal for the US to purchase 11 Finnish-designed icebreakers, including seven built in the US with Finnish expertise.

The president’s announcement also comes as US naval and air assets have surged to the Caribbean amid rising tensions with Venezuela.

The US started attacking vessels in September that were alleged to be carrying drugs, with strikes leaving at least 100 people dead.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Trump claimed that thousands of American lives had been saved because of the boat strikes by stopping lethal drugs from entering the US.

The attacks have been criticised by some experts, who said they could violate international laws governing armed conflict.