CBO Projects 50% Cost Surge For Trump-Class Navy Battleships
On Wednesday, August 5, 2026, the Congressional Budget Office released an analysis projecting the planned Trump-class battleship program will cost about 50 percent more than earlier Navy estimates.[1]
The CBO estimated the lead ship, the U.S.S. Defiant, at $23.4 billion and each of 14 follow-on ships at slightly more than $18 billion, for roughly $275 billion for 15 ships.[2] The report was prepared at the request of Sen. Jeff Merkley, who said the administration ultimately aims to build 25 Trump-class ships and that such a scale could push total costs to nearly a half-trillion dollars.[2]
Merkley, the ranking member on the Senate Budget Committee, requested the CBO study.[2] He called the proposed "Golden Fleet" a "massive military boondoggle" and pledged to work with colleagues on the Appropriations Committee to block funding and shift money to programs that help families.[2]
The CBO projection sets up a likely budget fight in Congress over whether to press ahead with the fleet as planned or scale back the program amid mounting cost concerns.
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📌 Key Facts
- On Wednesday, August 5, 2026, the Congressional Budget Office released an analysis projecting the Trump-class battleship program will cost about 50 percent more than earlier Navy estimates.
- The analysis estimates the lead ship, the U.S.S. Defiant, at $23.4 billion and each of 14 follow-on ships at slightly more than $18 billion, for a total of roughly $275 billion for 15 ships.
- The CBO report was prepared at the request of Sen. Jeff Merkley, the ranking member on the Senate Budget Committee.
- 25 Trump-class battleships, Merkley said, is the administration’s ultimate aim — a scale that could push total costs to nearly a half‑trillion dollars.
- Sen. Merkley called the Golden Fleet a “massive military boondoggle” and pledged to work with colleagues on the Appropriations Committee to block funding for the project and instead prioritize programs that help families.
📰 Source Timeline (2)
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- The article reiterates that on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, the Congressional Budget Office released an analysis projecting the Trump-class battleship program will cost about 50 percent more than earlier Navy estimates, with the U.S.S. Defiant now estimated at $23.4 billion and each of 14 follow-on ships at slightly more than $18 billion, for a total of roughly $275 billion for 15 ships.
- It specifies that CBO undertook the report at the request of Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, the ranking member on the Senate Budget Committee, and notes Merkley’s statement that the administration ultimately aims to build 25 Trump-class battleships, which could push total costs to nearly a half-trillion dollars.
- Sen. Merkley is quoted criticizing the 'Golden Fleet' as a 'massive military boondoggle' and pledging to work with colleagues on the Appropriations Committee to block funding for the project and instead prioritize programs that help families.