Trump promises Navy expansion, with huge price tag

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump chose a dramatic backdrop to tout his proposed $54 billion military spending boost on Thursday, standing on board the most technologically advanced — and most expensive — warship ever built.

Speaking on the USS Gerald R. Ford, a new aircraft carrier that came with an almost $13 billion price tag, Trump promised to make good on his campaign promise to expand the Navy’s 275-ship fleet to 350. It is the biggest proposed expansion since the early 1980s, and one that naval analysts warn will be immensely more expensive and timeconsuming than the president may realize, given that current funds don’t even cover the cost of maintaining the current fleet.

Dressed in a Navy flight jacket with a “commander in chief” patch and matching cap, Trump was in his element on Thursday, marveling at the size of the ship and promising the gathered service members a calling on Congress to pass his proposed $54 billion funding increase for the Pentagon and eliminate the defense spending caps.

“By eliminating the sequester and the uncertainty it creates, we will make it easier for the Navy to plan for the future and thus to control costs and get the best deals for the taxpayer which, of course, is very important, right?” he said.

In recent years the Navy’s size has ranged from 270 to 290 ships. Expanding it to Trump’s 350-ship goal would cost $25 billion a year over the next 30 years. This is more than 60 percent above the average amount allocated for shipbuilding in past years, according to a report from the Congressional Budget Office.

Trump said new warships like the USS Gerald R. Ford will be used to “project American power in distant lands.”

“Hopefully it’s power we don’t have to use,” he said. “But if we do they’re in big, big trouble.”

The expansion comes with an eye on China, which has rapidly upped its naval capacity in recent years.

“great rebuilding” of the Navy.

“We’re going to have, very soon, the finest equipment in the world,” he vowed,

[STEVE HELBER/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS] President Donald Trump smiles as Susan Ford, daughter of former president Gerald Ford, introduces him Thursday aboard the nuclear aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford at Newport News, Virginia.

[SUSAN WALSH/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS] Attorney General Jeff Sessions told reporters Thursday that his recusal from any investigations on Russia actually was being discussed on Monday — before The Washington Post tied him to conversations with a Russian official in September.