[ExI] Legendary Battleship was diamandis commentary

[John Clark]

On Fri, Jun 5, 2026 at 1:17 AM <spike at rainier66.com> wrote:


> *>> we do know what a**n** 80 year old** senile Commander In Chief who
>> loves having his name on big things has ordered his naval engineers to
>> design**,** and we know what sort of ship the idiot wants the congress
>> to pay for. *
>
>
>
> *> You have the notion that the way major weapon systems come into being
> is POTUS orders naval engineers to design them.  That isn’t how that
> process works at all.  POTUS has very little to do with what gets built. *
>

*Nope. **POTUS certainly shouldn't be the one who decides what type of
ships get built, especially if the decision is based on how pretty they
look, but in this case that's exactly what happened!  *

*I gave Gemini this question: *

*"Did Donald Trump have anything to do with the navy's decision to build
"Trump class" battleships?"*

*And this is what the AI told me: *

*Gemini: " *Yes, Donald *Trump was the primary driver behind the initiative*
. The decision to develop "Trump-class" guided-missile battleships was *not
a bottom-up concept generated natively by Navy planners; rather, it was a
direct directive from Trump himself*.

The program took shape through several key actions:


1. The Mar-a-Lago Announcement

On *December 22, 2025*, Trump held a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago
estate alongside his national security team to officially unveil the *"Golden
Fleet" initiative*. The centerpiece of this vision is a new class of
modern, 35,000-ton battleships designed to resurrect the concept of the
American capital ship. The first of these ships is planned to be named the *USS
Defiant*.
2. Upending Existing Naval Strategy

*To make way for Trump's battleship vision, the Navy fundamentally altered
its long-term surface combatant plans*. It effectively canceled the
*DDG(X)*—the
next-generation destroyer program that naval architects had been quietly
engineering for years. The capabilities originally intended for that
platform are being folded into the massive, heavily armored hull of the
Trump class.
3. Personal Involvement in Design

During his announcement, *Trump explicitly stated that he expects to be
personally involved in the aesthetics and design process of the warships*:


*"The U.S. Navy will lead the design of these ships along with me, because
I’m a very aesthetic person, alongside our partners in American industry."*

He also noted that the ships are meant to evoke the historic prestige of
Theodore Roosevelt’s "Great White Fleet" and America's World War II
battleships, acting as "unmistakable symbols of national power."
Current Reality and Outlook

Following the directive, Secretary of the Navy John C. Phelan and Chief of
Naval Operations Admiral Daryl Caudle quickly formally aligned the service
behind the requirement.

However, defense analysts and lawmakers remain deeply skeptical. The
proposed ships are slated to cost an estimated *$17 billion each* and
require highly immature technologies, including electromagnetic railguns,
300-kilowatt laser systems, and nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise
missiles. Because
the Navy is starting the design from scratch, *the first hull won't enter
service until the late 2030s*. Consequently, Congress has already moved to
slow-walk and block construction funding until the planned high-tech weapon
systems are fully developed."


> *> Fun aside on battleships: back in the olden days, the king ordered
> battleships and did generally write up the specifications.  The Vasa was
> ordered by Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden, in 1626.  Specifications were
> changed construction after the initial keel had already begun.  The king
> ordered more cannons and a lot of decorations. Result: the ship was top
> heavy and capsized on its maiden voyage.*
>

*As Mark Twain said "History doesn't repeat, but it rhymes". *

* John K Clark *
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