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Trump Unveils ‘Golden Fleet’ Initiative, New Battleship Class to Boost Sea Power
The president introduces new plans to revive U.S. shipbuilding and expand the Navy’s ship inventory.



President Donald Trump, flanked by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Navy Secretary John Phelan, announces the U.S. Navy's new Golden Fleet initiative, unveiling a new class of warships, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., on Dec. 22, 2025. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

President Donald Trump unveiled plans for a new fleet of large warships, to be called “Trump-class” battleships, as part of his vision to build a “Golden Fleet,” in Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday.
The new initiative comes as the Navy has seen setbacks in its shipbuilding efforts in recent decades, including the cancellation of the Constellation-class frigate program last month.
Speaking to reporters at Mar-a-Lago with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Navy Secretary John Phelan, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the president referenced the Iowa-class battleships of the World War II era, saying the new battleship class will represent “100 times the force, the power.”
“I have approved a plan for the Navy to begin the construction of two brand new, very large—largest we’ve ever built—battleships,” Trump said.
“There’s never been anything like these ships. These have been under design consideration for a long time, and it started with me in my first term.”
Trump stated that the plan is to begin with two ships, expand to 10, and eventually increase the total to between 20 and 25.
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He said the first two ships in the class will be built in 2.5 years.
The president also said he plans to meet with defense contractors in the coming days to discuss limiting executive pay, dividends, and stock buybacks, and to encourage them to invest more in their businesses.
Speaking at the event, Phelan referred to the new warships as the “Trump class battleship,” and stated they will be the “largest, deadliest, most versatile, and best looking warship anywhere on the world’s oceans.”
One of the first ships in the new class will be named the USS Defiant.
The new battleship class is not the first time the military has designated a new weapon platform as a tribute to the 47th president. Earlier this year, the U.S. Air Force designated its new stealth fighter, the F-47.
During his Monday remarks, Trump indicated he will have a role in designing the new Trump-class battleship.
He said the new battleship will be equipped with hypersonic missile launchers, electromagnetic rail-guns, and high-powered lasers.
Last week, Phelan first announced plans for a separate new class of frigates, to begin production under the new “Golden Fleet” initiative.
“I have directed a new Frigate class as part of @POTUS Golden Fleet,” Phelan stated on X on Dec. 19. “Built on a proven American design, in American shipyards, with an American supply chain, this effort is focused on one outcome: delivering combat power to the Fleet fast.”
This yet-to-be-named frigate class picks up where the Constellation-class program ended. The new ship will be based on the same core design Huntington Ingalls Industry has used for the U.S. Coast Guard’s Legend-class national security cutters.
Frigates are a smaller category of warships compared to destroyers, cruisers, and battleships.
In last week’s frigate announcement, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle said recent U.S. military operations in the Red and Caribbean Seas had proven the value of being able to dispatch smaller warships for distributed operations.
“We need more capable blue-water small combatants to close the gap and keep our [destroyers] focused on the high end fight,” Caudle said.
Trump’s Monday announcement comes days after he signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), authorizing $901 billion in military and national security programs for Fiscal Year 2026.

Quote:For decades there have been rumors, and a little more than conjecture with some evidence that rogue personnel in the CIA and NSA were running drugs from South America to fund their clandestine operations with regard to supplying weapons to Iran and the Contra rebels in Nicaragua, by passing Congressional scrutiny. One of the primary players in this long running saga was a pilot named Barry Seal. But he was not alone. Seal and his friend Roger Reaves was one of the most prolific drug smugglers in history. Let’s look into who they were working for and what happened. Written and hosted by Colin D. Heaton. Forgotten History is a 10th Legion Pictures Production.

It won't happen but Thailand could topple the X-Pol Pot leaders of Cambodia and the world would be better off for it. Everything China touches seems to be immoral and just plain wrong..

Quote:As the Thailand-Cambodia conflict escalates, a deeper power struggle—far beyond borders and headlines—is quietly coming into view. Public attention has focused on military clashes and diplomatic statements. But beneath the surface, a more complex network of power, interests, and hidden arrangements is shaping how this conflict unfolds. In this episode, we examine what the strikes and escalations have revealed—and why recent developments point to forces operating well beyond the battlefield. From cross-border criminal networks and opaque institutional expansions, to shifting internal dynamics and growing public unease, a broader picture begins to emerge. We also look at why certain models once operating overseas appear to be reconfiguring, and how regional instability may be exposing deeper structural struggles. The sharp contrast between official narratives and public reactions offers an important clue into where real pressure is building. This is not just a story about Cambodia or Thailand. It is about how power moves, how interests realign, and why conflicts on the surface often conceal far deeper struggles beneath.

Quote:It’s been a week of astonishing irony. Rob Reiner, a long-time and very vocal proponent of banning guns was stabbed to death. While an interesting side show, it pales in comparison to one of the great suicides in all of human history, overshadowing even Cleopatra’s asp — and history tells us she had a fine asp at that.

I’m talking, of course, of the EU’s incredibly senseless and wildly reckless flying double-gainer on its own sword. Among baffling and disastrous political blunders, this one dwarfs the competition. In fact, but for Athens launching the Sicilian Expedition in 415 BC, or the USSR invading Afghanistan in 1979, it’s difficult to come up with anything more self-destructive than the EU confiscating Russia’s money.

And the reason makes it all the more unhinged.

This event will go down in history as one of the most monumentally stupid things any political entity has ever done. It’s going to have profound repercussions throughout the political and financial world, and it will shift forever the balance of power across the globe.

Hyperbole? Not in the least. If anything, I’m understating the colossal boneheadedness of the EU’s most recent idiocy. Of course, we’re only a week into this clowniest of all clown shows, but you should print this page and tack it up with refrigerator magnets and see how it becomes more prophetic with age, just like good Trappist ale.

Let’s briefly review what will have been the most imbecilic act of intellectual incuriosity the world has ever seen:

1. EU Agreed to Indefinitely Freeze (Steal) Russian Sovereign Assets

The European Union has moved to make permanent the freeze on roughly €210 billion in Russian central bank assets that have been immobilized in Europe since sanctions were first imposed in 2022.

2. Push to Use the Frozen (Stolen) Assets to Support the Ukraine

EU “leaders” have been debating how to leverage the frozen (stolen) assets to finance a package for the Ukraine in 2026–27, potentially up to €165 billion in budget and defense support (money laundering). That the Ukraine regime is mere months away from utter collapse doesn’t seem to make any difference. Besides, 165 large doesn’t even get Zelensky out of bed in the morning.

3. Russia Has (Rationally) Responded With Legal Action

In response, Russia’s central bank has filed lawsuits. The EU (in an opium-induced hallucination) has officially dismissed the lawsuits as speculative and groundless, insisting its legal framework respects international norms (it doesn’t) and sovereign rights (not even close). Ursula van der Loon openly states that EU courts are so corrupt, they would never go against the home team, but Russia knows that it can file in any of the 90 jurisdictions where Euroclear has a presence.

4. Broader Sanctions and Enforcement Actions (Panic)

In parallel with the asset freeze debate (how to legally steal), the EU has adopted fresh sanctions (declared war) targeting Russian oil exports and associated individuals/companies, particularly those linked to the (non-existent) shadow fleet shipping operations.

To briefly recap the EU’s lunacy of the past decade, it hollowed out its culture and economy with unbridled third-world immigration and freebies for all; it destroyed its manufacturing base with “green” pipe dreams of powering the continent with sunbeams and unicorn farts; and now it has literally and blatantly stolen the assets of a major power, which is essentially a declaration of war against a greater foe.

And that’s just the highlights.

Imagine your neighbor burns down his house playing with the wiring. He pops over one day and changes the locks on your house, then announces that he’s taking out a “loan” on your property to fund a band of brigands and ne’er-do-wells up the street. The cheek, you’d think, as you loaded the moving van.

The upshots of all this nincompoopery are:

1. Europe’s economy will collapse within a year;
   
2. Folks will freeze in the dark by next winter;
   
3. Any country with vaguely cognitive “leaders” is already pulling their assets out of the EU;
   
4. Russia now has the right under Natural and international law to wage war on Europe;
   
5. Every shekel of the 165 large will go into the pockets of EU bureaucrats and Zelensky’s retirement account;
   
6. The EU will give itself the power to issue Euro bonds and collect per capita taxes to pay for them without a single elected “official;” and
   
7. Arabic and Swahili will become the official languages of Europe.

StarMerCron, as rubber stamps for the autocratic crone Van der Loon, have crossed their legs, taken steady aim, and simultaneously shot themselves in both feet. According to their rationale — I’m being as charitable as I can regarding their combined mental pony-power — any of the 90 nations with a Euroclear presence can now “permanently freeze” EU assets and start taking out loans against them. The framework is clear and the precedent is set. When a criminal commits a crime with impunity, he will invariably do it again.

If the US doesn’t back away fast, all this excretum will rub off on it, as well. If you want to see dedollarization on steroids, stand by. Soon, every nation will be withdrawing their funds from the US/EU cabal banks, while freezing cabalista assets on their turf. Trade will come to a sudden and catastrophic halt, and no one is wearing safety belts. The economies of both entities will crater, and the collapse of the USSR will come to look like a curious footnote to history.

It was bad enough that “debanking” citizens became a thing across North America and Europe, for completely political and arbitrary reasons. But those were individuals, and no one really cared — can’t happen to me, I’m a good little citizen. When entire nations get debanked, we’re no longer in the same ballpark, much less a level playing field.

I see chaos and collapse as a golden opportunity to take back essential freedoms and liberties, so I can’t say I’m overly concerned; I’m as prepared as anyone can be without a hidey-hole dug into the side of a mountain.

The US and EU have become creaky, corrupt institutions that long ago overstepped their positions of servitude. It’s about time they got their hinies good and spanked. Spare the rod, spoil the servant, I always say. The unruly domestics are stealing the silverware and cleaning out the curio cabinet, so it’s time to fire the lot of them.

In any case, you may want to squirrel away some hard assets where they can’t be “permanently frozen,” as in burying some gold and silver in the back yard. Be careful, though. Those metals are non-magnetic and can’t be found with metal detectors. Sure, the bastids can’t find your stash, but if you forget where you buried them, you’ll be out there in the middle of the night with a backhoe.

Buckle up and batten down. Thars a storm a’comin’.

Sic semper tyrannus.

=====

Today we have another double feature for the weekend, both of which you probably haven’t seen. The first is an Italian flick for you Burt Lancaster fans out there: The Leopard (1963), about a Sicilian nobleman trying to maintain his position amid the chaos of the 1960s. The other is an Italian-Algerian collaboration called The Battle of Algiers (1966), about the utter corruption and depravity of the French occupation of Algiers. Together, they perfectly capture today’s theme of power run amok.

Cultural note: “amok” is an Indo-Malay word adopted into English in the 1700s. It originally referred to an actual phenomenon of someone going emotionally and spiritually nuts, and usually ending up dead.

It's that wonderous day where we remember the three prophets of Prog and the masterpiece they brought to the world , Happy Rush Day !

Just finished watching the latest Avatar movie called Fire and Ash. As expected the scenery was outstanding and the story was typical mean idiots trying to steal and terraform a planet that has sentient beings there already. It is a long movie with a whole bunch of stuff going on continuously and I did not get bored watching it ... 

Quote:This world is much deeper than you imagine. Watch the brand-new trailer for Avatar: Fire and Ash and experience it in theatres December 19th. Also, don’t miss Avatar: The Way of Water back on the big screen in 3D for one week only, starting October 3rd. With “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” James Cameron takes audiences back to Pandora in an immersive new adventure with Marine turned Na’vi leader Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), Na’vi warrior Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), and the Sully family. The film, which has a screenplay by James Cameron & Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver, and a story by James Cameron & Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver & Josh Friedman & Shane Salerno, also stars Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Oona Chaplin, Cliff Curtis, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Edie Falco, David Thewlis, Jemaine Clement, Giovanni Ribisi, Britain Dalton, Jamie Flatters, Trinity Jo-Li Bliss, Jack Champion, Brendan Cowell, Bailey Bass, Filip Geljo, Duane Evans, Jr., and Kate Winslet.

The Trump Kennedy Center should get some Dems vapor locking !!

'Fox & Friends Weekend' co-hosts discuss the left's reaction to the board of trustees' unanimous vote to add President Donald Trump's name to the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.

Quote:US forces are ramping up pressure on Venezuela in what increasingly looks like a modern naval blockade. Sanctioned oil tankers are being seized, drug trafficking vessels are being destroyed at sea, and Washington is turning economic sanctions into physical enforcement. This video breaks down why the US is targeting Venezuela’s oil lifeline, how shadow fleet tankers evade sanctions, and what a two-layer blockade really looks like in 2025. We analyze naval interdictions, cartel routes, escalation risks, and why this campaign matters far beyond Venezuela

From Washington Dulles going to Japan a  very heavy 777 loses an engine during T/O. 

Quote:A United Airlines Boeing 777 departing from Washington Dulles Airport experienced an engine failure shortly after takeoff, forcing the crew to declare an emergency and return to the airport. As the plane departed, part of the engine cowling separated and ignited brush along the runway, prompting a rapid response from airport fire crews. Thankfully, the aircraft landed safely, and all passengers and crew were unharmed. In this video, Captain Steeeve breaks down what happened, why losing an engine on takeoff is one of the most demanding scenarios for pilots, and how crews are trained to handle it. We’ll also look at what likely caused the cowling separation and why this incident is now under FAA investigation. If you’ve ever wondered what a pilot’s workload looks like in those first seconds after an engine failure — this is the video for you.

(USA):

Illegal aliens know who they are.
They have had ample opportunity to set their affairs in order,
 and take advantage of 'Trump's' offer...
  and have chosen to ride it out
   continuing their illegal activities
    (anything done, as an 'illegal'
      is an illegal activity
        except for 'leaving').

Rather than giving the illegal aliens $1,000, to leave, on their own
 (and sending them home on something other than "Con-Air")
  - Give the $1,000 to Citizens that turn them in.

Where I live, I would make a killing.
Don't even know any of them...
But, the waters, 'round here, have grown pretty muddy.