Posted on December 8, 2025
President Trump this week “signed off on what we’re calling the Golden Fleet,” Navy Secretary John Phelan told Axios on Saturday.
Why it matters: Exactly what the Golden Fleet comprises — or how it begins taking shape, let alone gets built — has been the subject of much expert speculation and opinion-page banter.
Driving the news: Phelan’s response to Axios at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California offers military watchers their best glimpse yet at the purported future armada, which shares the shine of the administration’s proposed hemispheric missile shield, Golden Dome.
Per Phelan, it includes:
- An American-made frigate, different from the Constellation-class that Phelan axed before Thanksgiving, which was based on a design adopted by the French and Italian navies.
- Modernized tankers, oilers and logistics ships, which Phelan described on X as “unsung heroes.”
- And “quite a bit” of unmanned technology. Earlier in the conference, Phelan told reporters of a $392 million deal with drone-boat maker Saronic.
What they’re saying: “We will continue to build ships that are the cornerstones of the fleet. Carriers. Destroyers. Amphibs. Submarines,” the Navy secretary said.
- “But we need new ships, and we need modern ships.”
Between the lines: U.S. shipbuilders produce less than 1% of China’s output each year, by tonnage.
- Trump wants to supercharge domestic shipbuilding. Many experts are pessimistic about the degree to which that’s possible in the near term.
What’s next: “The president has talked about what I’m going to call the Big Beautiful Ship,” Phelan said, “and what I’ll say on that is: Stay tuned.”
Go deeper: Trump demands ships “very fast, very soon” as China dominates
