CBO Report: Trump-Class Nuclear Battleship Program Estimated to Cost $275 Billion

The public debate surrounding the U.S. Navy's new "Trump-class" battleship program often focuses exclusively on the sheer scale of its $275 billion price tag or the political optics of its naming convention. The assumption is that the military is simply purchasing a larger version of its existing destroyers. The evidence, however, points to a fundamental restructuring of the American naval industrial base.

According to a newly released Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report, the shift to 35,000-ton nuclear-powered surface combatants will require a 60 percent increase in large-vessel production tonnage by 2058. This pivot will fundamentally alter how domestic shipyards operate, allocate resources, and manage their supply chains over the next three decades.[1][6]

The core claim of the CBO analysis is the financial footprint of the 15-ship procurement plan, dubbed the "Golden Fleet." The agency estimates the total cost of the program at $275 billion between 2027 and 2056, a figure that places it among the most expensive procurement efforts in modern naval history.[1][3]

The lead ship, designated BBGN-1 and expected to be named USS Defiant, is projected to cost $23.4 billion to design and build. This figure establishes a new high-water mark for surface combatant procurement, far exceeding the cost of previous destroyer and cruiser programs, and even surpassing the $13.3 billion cost of the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier.[2][4]

The subsequent 14 vessels in the class are estimated to average $18 billion each once production stabilizes. This represents a 13 percent cost increase over earlier Navy estimates, which had assumed the battleships would be conventionally powered rather than utilizing complex nuclear propulsion systems.[1][5]

The justification for this unprecedented expenditure lies in the vessel's projected payload and physical scale. At 35,000 tons of full-load displacement, the battleship will be three and a half times the size of an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer.[2][3]

It will also be more than twice the size of the Zumwalt-class, making it the largest surface combatant constructed for the U.S. Navy since World War II. The Navy's budget request justification notes the vessel could ultimately range up to 41,000 tons, which the CBO warns would increase the lead ship's cost by an additional 16 percent.[2][3]

The CBO report details that the ship's primary armament will include between 128 and 200 Mark 41 vertical launch cells. This massive magazine is designed to accommodate a wide array of interceptors and strike weapons, allowing the vessel to operate independently in highly contested maritime environments.[1][5]

Alongside traditional missiles, the design integrates four tubes for hypersonic Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) missiles, high-powered directed-energy lasers, and an electromagnetic railgun. The integration of these next-generation weapons requires the massive power generation capabilities that only a nuclear reactor can provide.[5]

Furthermore, the Navy has stated the ship will carry the nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missile (SLCM-N). This specific nuclear configuration provides the platform with more firepower than any existing vessel outside the Navy's 14 Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines, representing a significant shift in how the military plans to distribute its nuclear deterrent across the surface fleet.[3][5]

Where the evidence becomes critical is in assessing the physical feasibility of production. The CBO explicitly warns that accommodating such a sizable increase in large surface combatants will severely strain the domestic shipbuilding industry, which is already facing workforce shortages and supply chain bottlenecks.[1][6]

By 2035, the required annual output tonnage for large combatants will more than double under the 2027 shipbuilding plan. Simultaneously, the volume for smaller vessels is projected to decrease by 40 percent, forcing shipyards to rapidly retool their facilities and retrain their labor force.[4][6]

Final assembly of the nuclear-powered battleships is expected to take place at Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia. Crucially, this is currently the only U.S. yard certified to construct new nuclear-powered surface ships, creating a severe potential bottleneck for the entire program.[4][5]

The CBO is transparent about the limits of its projections, noting that lead ships in new naval classes almost always take longer to build and cost more than initially estimated. The $23.4 billion estimate relies heavily on historical analogies rather than mature program data, as the battleship remains in the early stages of design ahead of a planned 2028 order.[1][5][6]

Furthermore, while nuclear propulsion eliminates the need for underway refueling and traditional fuel purchases, the agency states there is currently "insufficient information" to accurately estimate the total lifetime operating expenses or potential savings of the class. The true financial impact of operating a 15-ship nuclear surface fleet remains an open question.[4][6]