¡°Stupid, absurd,¡± Trump ordered the US aircraft carrier to be replaced

On October 28, U.S. President Trump, who was visiting Japan, and Japanese Prime Minister Sakaimi Takashi went to the U.S. Navy Yokosuka Base and boarded the U.S. Navy nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington.

According to US media reports such as Newsweek, Trump announced in a speech to US officers and soldiers on the scene that he would sign an executive order requiring future aircraft carriers built by the United States to use steam catapults and hydraulic elevators.

Trump said he was very knowledgeable in shipbuilding, and then in the speech twice asked the crew of the "Washington" aircraft carrier present: you think steam and electromagnetic bullets are better? after hearing the scene officers answered "steam bullets", Trump called the electromagnetic bullets "stupid and absurd". he said that the electromagnetic bullets are not only expensive, but can not work properly under the maintenance of top talent.

Trump speaks on nuclear-powered aircraft carrier George Washington

Trump said that in contrast, steam catapult has been used for 50 years, and its performance is no worse than that of electromagnetic catapult, and its performance is reliable and can be repaired with simple tools. In addition, Trump said that he likes to see the "beautiful" scene on the deck of the aircraft carrier when steam ejection is used. If electromagnetic ejection is used, he will not be able to see this scene.

Trump said he would sign an order that U.S. new aircraft carriers would be re-built to use steam launchers, and repeatedly said he was "serious".

Extended reading

Trump wants to resurrect battleships: I pay attention to aesthetics, modern warships are ugly

Earlier, U.S. ¡°war secretary¡± Hegerseth had summoned senior U.S. officers from around the world to meet in Quantico, Virginia. On the morning of September 30 local time, U.S. President Trump delivered a speech to hundreds of U.S. military officials at the Naval Corps Base in Quantico.

According to reports by US media such as "New Republic" Weekly (TNR) and "Business Insider" on the same day, in his speech, Trump denounced that the current US warships did not seem strong enough and proposed that he was considering reactivating the US Navy's battleship. The idea.

"We are considering the concept of a 'battleship'. The beautiful six-inch side is made of strong steel, not aluminum, not the kind of aluminum that melts if hit by a missile, which starts to melt when the missile is about two miles away from us." Trump said.

Trump made it clear that his "complaints" had nothing to do with efficiency or safety issues. "I'm a very aesthetic person. From an aesthetic point of view, I don't like some of the ships you build," the American president boasted. "They say, 'Oh, this is invisible.' That's not invisible. There's no need for an ugly ship to be invisible."

On September 30, 2025 local time, US President Trump delivered a speech to senior military commanders at the Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Virginia

Business Insider points out that heavily armed battleships were once the core of maritime power, built for head-on confrontation with other warships. During the World War, they dominated the oceans, but their places have since been taken by aircraft carriers.

Those battleships with heavy armor and powerful artillery on their decks were the "pinnacle" of maritime power for most of the last century, because naval battles at that time were dominated by artillery fire. Each 16-inch (about 406 mm) gun on the battleship can fire shells weighing about 2,000 pounds (about 900 kilograms). They once brought huge firepower on the battlefield.

In the early 1990s, the last warships of the U.S. Navy retired, and their era ended, with the last warships actually firing during the Gulf War. Today, not only have warships such as warships retired for decades, but their corresponding forms of naval warfare have long become history.

At the moment, the only eight remaining U.S. warships are all distributed across the country as museum ships. Speaking of the advantages of the warships, Trump referred to the retired USS Iowa BB-61, which is now stationed in Los Angeles as a museum ship. He also mentioned the 1954 World War II naval documentary Victory at Sea.

"I looked at those warships, they were sailing with destroyers, man, there was nothing to stop them," Trump continued."Some people would say,'No, that's old technology,' but I'm not sure, when you see those cannons, I don't think it's old technology."

The picture shows the battleship "Iowa" Wikipedia

The New Republic weekly said the U.S. Navy has always been a tricky issue for Trump, because the agency is always lagging behind and overspending budgets, which goes against his gesture of striving for efficiency.

As early as Trump's first term in office, he proposed the "U.S. Navy 355 Ship Plan." At the time, the US "Defense News" pointed out that the US Navy was embarking on the largest military expansion plan since the 1980s to match Trump's goal of 350 naval ships. However, judging from the current situation, this plan has basically failed.

In June, U.S. Navy Secretary John Phelan said Trump's priorities for the military could be summarized as "shipbuilding," a comment that angered defense contractors. Shipping experts say Trump's dream could cost billions of dollars. Others even believe that "this is doomed to failure."

As a so-called "liberal" media, the New Republic magazine bluntly criticized that unfortunately, Trump actually knew nothing about warships. According to metals supplier Wieland Diversified, U.S. warships use some aluminum during construction to reduce weight and improve fuel efficiency. Aluminum also has corrosion resistance and wave resistance.

According to the report, in addition, Trump had previously mistakenly claimed that magnets would fail when placed in water, so placing magnets on ships was "foolish behavior."

As the lethality and long-range firepower of aircraft carriers, submarines and missiles increased, battleships were rapidly obsolete, while their high costs and staffing made them appear very inefficient, Business Insider noted. Furthermore, modern naval strategies no longer require large artillery warships as they used to.

In possible future combat scenarios, U.S. military officials and planners expect naval forces to face heavy missile fire while also facing new surface and underwater threats. They believe that having a range of countermeasures against missiles and drones is the key to survival, and that battleships, at least in their original design, are not suitable for this kind of combat.