How Much Does the Trump-Class Warship Cost?

Updated on August 6, 2026 | Written by Alec Pow
This article was researched using 15 sources. See our methodology and corrections policy.

The proposed Trump-class nuclear battleship could cost about $23.4 billion for the first ship and an average of $18 billion for each later vessel, according to the Congressional Budget Office’s August 2026 estimate.

The Navy’s earlier budget submission carried a lower figure of about $17.47 billion for the first conventionally powered design. The estimate rose after the service chose nuclear propulsion and expanded its long-range plan to 15 ships.

The Trump-class warship is a government acquisition program measured per ship and across a multidecade fleet. Propulsion choice, design maturity, weapons integration, shipyard capacity, testing, and congressional funding can move the final amount.

The design is still changing.

TLDR The first Trump-class battleship could cost about $23.4 billion, and a planned 15-ship fleet could reach roughly $275 billion in 2026 dollars.

Important numbers

Jump to sections

• First nuclear-powered ship estimate: $23.4 billion (at $30 per hour, earning that amount would take about 375 thousand years of full-time work, before taxes)
• Later ships, estimated average: $18 billion each
• Fifteen-ship construction program: about $275 billion
• Earlier Navy lead-ship estimate: about $17.47 billion
• Five-year Navy funding plan: about $46 billion

What this is in plain terms

The Trump-class battleship, also identified as BBGN, is a proposed nuclear-powered guided-missile surface combatant for the U.S. Navy. The lead ship is planned as USS Defiant. It is intended to carry large missile magazines, hypersonic weapons, air and missile defenses, lasers, command systems, and a possible nuclear-armed cruise missile capability.

It is not a restored Iowa-class battleship and is not an aircraft carrier. The proposed vessel would use missiles, sensors, electrical power, and networked command systems rather than the heavy armor and large naval guns associated with twentieth-century battleships.

The ship would also be much larger than an Arleigh Burke destroyer or Zumwalt destroyer. Nuclear propulsion separates it from the conventionally powered version discussed when the program was announced. That choice affects the hull, reactor plant, workforce, shipyard, maintenance plan, and construction schedule.

How Much Does the Trump-Class Warship Cost?

The newest public estimate comes from the Congressional Budget Office. In August 2026, CBO estimated that the first 35,000-ton nuclear-powered Trump-class ship would cost $23.4 billion (about 375 thousand years of full-time work at $30 per hour), later ships would average $18 billion, and buying 15 vessels through 2056 would cost about $275 billion in 2026 dollars. Those figures appear in CBO’s battleship program cost study.

The CBO estimate is higher than the Navy’s first budget figures. The service initially priced a conventionally powered lead ship at about $15.1 billion in 2026 dollars, with the second and third ships averaging $10.2 billion. CBO raised the estimate after accounting for nuclear propulsion, historical shipbuilding results, design risk, and the size of the proposed vessel.

The Navy’s fiscal 2027 budget material used another accounting presentation. DefenseScoop reported a gross weapon-system amount of $17.47 billion, made up of $1 billion in advance procurement planned for fiscal 2027 and $16.47 billion in procurement planned for fiscal 2028, based on the April 2026 budget documents.

These figures do not describe a finished contract price. The Navy estimate reflected an earlier design stage, and the CBO figure is an independent projection. Congress can change quantities, funding timing, propulsion requirements, and program scope before construction begins.

Navy budget figures vs CBO projection

The Department of the Navy requested $65.8 billion (about 1.1 million years of full-time work at $30 per hour) in fiscal 2027 shipbuilding funds for 18 battle-force ships, 16 auxiliary ships, carrier funding, and development of the new battleship, according to the Navy’s April 2026 budget release. That total is a shipbuilding-account request, not the Trump-class price alone.

Navy budget officials said the five-year plan contains $43.5 billion in shipbuilding money for the battleship and another $3.9 billion for research and development. Together, those figures equal $47.4 billion across the future-years plan, based on the Navy’s fiscal 2027 budget briefing.

The five-year total covers early design, engineering, advance procurement, and the planned purchase of the first ships. It does not fund all 15 vessels through 2056. CBO’s $275 billion projection covers the full construction program in constant 2026 dollars, which makes it a broader measure.

Dividing CBO’s fleet estimate by 15 gives an average of about $18.33 billion per ship. The arithmetic is $275 billion divided by 15 equals $18.33 billion, using the fleet amount and quantity in the CBO program summary. The first ship sits above that average because lead vessels carry nonrecurring design, engineering, test, tooling, and production-start expenses.

Trump warship vs other Navy ships

The proposed battleship would sit among the most expensive warships ever built. The first ship’s $23.4 billion CBO estimate exceeds public procurement figures for a Ford-class aircraft carrier, even though a carrier also supports an air wing and thousands of sailors. Current carrier comparisons can be reviewed alongside the cost of a Navy aircraft carrier.

The Navy originally positioned the Trump-class program as a replacement for the planned DDG(X) large surface combatant. CBO told Congress in April 2026 that the proposed battleship would be close to 60 percent larger than the 14,500-ton DDG(X) concept and would add pressure to large-surface-combatant construction, according to its shipbuilding testimony.

The Zumwalt class shows how a small fleet of unusual ships can create added expenses. GAO reported in July 2026 that upgrading the three Zumwalt destroyers for Conventional Prompt Strike had risen from $1.8 billion to at least $2 billion, with another possible $1 billion to $2 billion tied to replacing unique systems across the class. Those findings appear in the GAO modernization review.

Submarines provide another nuclear construction comparison, though their missions and designs differ. Readers can compare current figures with the price of nuclear submarines and the USS Abraham Lincoln cost.

Nuclear propulsion and weapons

Nuclear propulsion changes almost every major part of the ship. The hull must accommodate reactors, shielding, steam or electrical generation equipment, cooling systems, protected spaces, and specialized controls. Nuclear components require trained designers, qualified suppliers, regulated handling, dedicated shipyard infrastructure, testing, certification, and a maintenance system that extends through decades of service.

The ship is also expected to carry large missile batteries, Conventional Prompt Strike hypersonic weapons, advanced radar, high-power lasers, electronic warfare equipment, aviation facilities, and command systems for other vessels and unmanned platforms. Each weapon or sensor adds electrical demand, cooling load, software work, magazines, safety controls, crew training, and test events.

A change to the reactor plant can alter weight distribution and internal arrangement, which can force revisions to propulsion, survivability, cabling, ventilation, and combat-system spaces. The Navy’s May 2026 plan identified the Trump class as nuclear powered and scheduled 15 ships through 2056, according to the 30-year shipbuilding report.

The weapons are not free with the hull. Missiles, spare rounds, training weapons, support equipment, software updates, and later modernization can be funded through separate accounts. The purchase figure may also exclude decades of crew pay, reactor servicing, depot maintenance, ammunition replacement, port work, and disposal.

Those boundaries matter when comparing the Trump-class estimate with a carrier, destroyer, or submarine. A procurement figure answers what the government expects to spend acquiring the ship. It does not represent the full lifetime ownership expense.

Worked fleet estimate

CBO’s 15-ship projection can be reproduced using its lead-ship and follow-on figures. The first vessel is estimated at $23.4 billion. Fourteen later vessels averaging $18 billion would add $252 billion.

• Lead ship: $23.4 billion
• Fourteen later ships: 14 x $18 billion = $252 billion
• Calculated construction total: $275.4 billion
• Rounded CBO program estimate: about $275 billion

The itemized arithmetic produces $23.4 billion + $252 billion = $275.4 billion, which rounds to the agency’s published $275 billion program figure. The inputs come from the August 2026 CBO ship-cost findings.

The nuclear design adds another useful comparison. CBO estimated a conventionally powered 15-ship program at $243 billion and the nuclear fleet at $275 billion. The difference is $32 billion, calculated as $275 billion minus $243 billion. Spread across 15 vessels, that equals about $2.13 billion per ship, though the actual premium would not be distributed evenly between the lead vessel and later production.

CBO said nuclear propulsion could reduce fuel purchases during operation, but it lacked enough design information to calculate the savings. The higher construction amount cannot yet be balanced against a reliable lifetime fuel estimate.

Three possible budget outcomes

Lower Navy case. The design remains near the earlier conventionally powered concept, Congress limits technical changes, and the first ship stays close to the Navy’s initial $17.47 billion weapon-system estimate. Axios described that amount as an early estimate and reported more than $43 billion for the first three ships in April 2026 through its budget document review.

Nuclear planning case. The Navy proceeds with the reactor plant and 35,000-ton design reflected in CBO’s work. The first ship reaches about $23.4 billion, and the 15-ship construction program approaches $275 billion. The primary driver is the move from a conventionally powered early concept to a nuclear-powered fleet.

Cost-growth case. Design changes continue after shipyard work begins, weapons are not mature, suppliers cannot meet schedules, or Congress stretches purchases across more years. GAO reported in April 2025 that Navy shipbuilding had remained over budget and delayed despite increased industrial-base spending, and its shipbuilding performance review identifies design instability, workforce shortages, and supplier limits as recurring problems.

Hidden program exposure could add billions of dollars through design changes, reactor work, weapons integration, shipyard upgrades, schedule extensions, cost-to-complete funding, and later modernization.

None of the three cases is a signed fixed-price outcome. Congress has not completed all funding actions, and the ship’s final configuration has not been frozen.

Shipyard capacity

The Navy plans to begin buying the lead ship in fiscal 2028, but construction timing depends on design readiness, nuclear-component capacity, shipyard availability, and congressional appropriations. USNI News reported in April 2026 that the five-year plan contained $43.5 billion in procurement funding and anticipated a first-ship purchase above $17 billion, based on the Navy acquisition schedule.

CBO estimates that the 2027 shipbuilding plan would raise average annual surface-combatant procurement funding from about $11 billion to $19 billion. The plan would also increase large-combatant tonnage substantially by 2035, placing heavier demands on yards that already build destroyers, amphibious ships, submarines, and carriers.

Workforce pressure can affect cost before a hull enters the water. Nuclear-qualified welders, electricians, pipefitters, engineers, quality inspectors, and suppliers cannot be added instantly. Shipyards may need new facilities, cranes, dry-dock work, machine tools, supplier investments, and training programs.

Program cancellation creates a different expense. If the Navy stops the battleship after suppliers and yards have invested in equipment, the service may need to restart another surface-combatant design later. That can leave sunk engineering costs, production gaps, and added spending to keep older destroyers operating.

Who this cost makes sense for

The current figures are useful for readers comparing government procurement plans, naval force structure, nuclear shipbuilding, and federal budget tradeoffs. They are less useful as a final invoice because the design and funding plan can still change.

Makes sense if

• You need a 2026-dollar construction estimate.
• You separate the lead ship from later vessels.
• You account for the nuclear propulsion decision.
• You compare Navy and CBO estimates.
• You distinguish procurement from lifetime ownership.

Doesn’t make sense if

• You need a signed shipyard contract total.
• You treat the early conventional design as final.
• You assume weapons and operations are included.
• You ignore congressional quantity changes.
• You expect all 15 ships to have one unit price.

The public answer as of August 2026 is a range of government estimates rather than one settled price. The Navy controls requirements and budget requests, Congress controls appropriations, CBO supplies an independent projection, and shipbuilders convert the design into production bids and contract performance.

What we verified

• Checked the December 2025 announcement of the Trump-class program.
• Confirmed the fiscal 2027 requests for advance procurement and development.
• Cross-referenced the Navy mission description for the large surface combatant.
• Verified the historical fleet-cost context used to compare shipbuilding plans.

Article Highlights

• The first Trump-class nuclear battleship could cost $23.4 billion.
• Later ships may average about $18 billion each.
• A 15-ship construction program could reach $275 billion.
• The Navy’s earlier lead-ship figure was about $17.47 billion.
• Nuclear propulsion adds an estimated $32 billion across the planned fleet.
• Weapons, operations, maintenance, and later upgrades can sit outside procurement figures.

Answers to Common Questions

How much will the first Trump-class warship cost?

CBO estimates about $23.4 billion in 2026 dollars. The Navy’s earlier estimate was lower because it reflected a less mature, conventionally powered design.

How much would all 15 Trump-class ships cost?

CBO projects about $275 billion to construct 15 nuclear-powered ships through 2056.

Why is the Trump-class ship so expensive?

The design combines nuclear propulsion, a very large hull, extensive missile capacity, hypersonic weapons, radar, lasers, command systems, aviation facilities, and substantial engineering risk.

Is the Trump-class ship more expensive than an aircraft carrier?

The first ship’s current CBO estimate exceeds published procurement figures for Ford-class carriers, but the ships perform different missions and their public cost figures may include different items.

Has construction started?

The Navy plans procurement for fiscal 2028. Final design work, congressional funding, supplier readiness, and shipyard preparations still affect the schedule.