Trump vows to rebuild US shipbuilding, calls it national security priority

Washington, July 16 (SocialNews.XYZ) US President Donald Trump has unveiled an ambitious plan to revive American shipbuilding, asserting that his administration would expand domestic ship production, work with foreign partners to accelerate construction and rebuild America's naval industrial base after decades of decline.

Speaking at the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit on Wednesday (local time), Trump said rebuilding shipyards and expanding naval production had become a national security priority as the United States seeks to modernise its fleet and strengthen military readiness.

"We need a lot of ships for our Navy, a lot of ships," Trump said. "Despite the fact we have the greatest Navy in the world, our ships are getting older, and we really got out of that business."

The President announced that the administration would build two multi-mission national security vessels at the historic Philadelphia shipyard and signalled that Washington was prepared to purchase ships built overseas while rebuilding America's own industrial capacity.

"We're going to probably look at some of these companies that are coming in from South Korea and other places, and they're working with us on ships, and we're going to also buy some ships that are made outside of the area," Trump said.

He said many American shipyards had disappeared after being converted into waterfront real estate developments, leaving the country behind in naval construction.

"You know, we used to make a ship a day, and now we're a laggard in that department," Trump said. "A lot of our shipyards were sold for real estate projects on the water."

South Korea's Hanwha Defense USA, which now owns the Philadelphia shipyard, said it plans to dramatically expand US production capacity.

"Our shipyard in Korea puts out about one ship a week," Hanwha Defense USA CEO Michael Coulter said. "We have a plan to bring that capability to Philadelphia."

Coulter said the company intends to transform Philadelphia into a major centre for American naval construction.

"Ships win battles, shipyards win wars," he said. "It is going to be the home to make American shipbuilding great again."

General Dynamics also announced a $2.5 billion investment in Rhoads Industries to expand production supporting US Navy submarine programmes, with the project expected to create about 1,500 jobs in Pennsylvania. Company President Danny Deep said the investment would strengthen supply chains across the state and support production of Virginia-class and Columbia-class submarines.

During his remarks, Trump criticised rising costs and engineering decisions in previous naval programmes, arguing that future warships should emphasise reliability and faster production over unnecessary complexity.

"We have the best quality in the world, but we need a little more speed," he said while calling for increased production of submarines, missiles and other military systems.

The shipbuilding initiative forms part of the administration's broader effort to rebuild the US defence industrial base through expanded manufacturing, public-private investment and closer cooperation with allied defence companies.

Officials at the summit said modernising shipyards and increasing naval production capacity would be essential to supporting future military requirements and maintaining America's maritime advantage.

Source: IANS