In a speech on the Senate floor, Chuck Schumer targeted the new class of warships Donald Trump proposed for the Navy. The U.S. Senate minority leader questioned the administration’s decision to prioritize an expensive military project while American families face economic difficulties.
Schumer argued that the Navy was trying to build ships it did not want under a plan called the “Golden Fleet.” Claiming that the project had become an expensive venture bearing Trump’s own name, Schumer described the proposed ships as “15 Trump-class warships.”
First ship projected to cost $23.4 billion
The Congressional Budget Office’s analysis projected that the total cost of the new class of warships planned as the foundation of the “Golden Fleet” could reach $275 billion. The construction cost of the USS Defiant, planned as the first ship in the class, was projected at $23.4 billion.
The plan calls for a total of 15 warships, with each ship produced after the first expected to cost approximately $18 billion.
Schumer described the project as one of Trump’s “vanity projects.” The senator criticized the administration for prioritizing major defense spending instead of focusing on domestic economic problems, saying that while Americans struggle with rising costs, Trump was choosing to fuel his own ego with spending on 15 ships costing $275 billion rather than meeting the public’s needs.