Donald Trump says “Why aren’t we doing battleships like we used to?” about his Golden Fleet plan

The Congressional Budget Office projected Wednesday that President Trump’s proposed nuclear-powered “Golden Fleet” could cost more than $455 billion if the Navy builds the 25 ships it wants, far exceeding earlier estimates. The first 15 vessels would total about $275 billion, with each following ship costing about $18 billion, the nonpartisan office said. Democrats, including Senator Jeff Merkley and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, are pushing to strip the program from budget negotiations, portraying it as an extravagant personal project. Trump introduced the battleship plan in December, saying the ships would be far stronger than previous ones; he recalled that he had begun contemplating such vessels during his first term, when he questioned why the U.S. had stopped building that type of warship. A Trump administration official said the figures were early-stage estimates. Navy Secretary John Phelan was ousted in April, reportedly over the program.