The Bangor Daily News was the first to report this story. What you’re reading here would likely not be made public without the efforts of professional journalists asking questions, interviewing sources and obtaining documents.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is planning a Monday trip to Maine headlined by a speech at Bath Iron Works about President Donald Trump’s plans for a new class of massive warships.
The secretary’s plans were not immediately confirmed by the Defense Department. They were described by a person who had been briefed and requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about them. A BIW spokesperson referred a reporter to the Pentagon.
Hegseth is expected to tour facilities including BIW during his trip to Maine, the person said. He plans to give a speech on plans for a “Trump class” warship that the Republican president has said will be longer and larger than past Navy ships and retrofitted with missiles, rail guns and lasers that are still in development.
There are still many questions about the ships. While Trump announced plans for them in December and they have been embraced by the Navy since then, one skeptical analyst said “these ships will never sail” because of their immense cost in the billions of dollars and the likelihood that it would take until the 2030s to even begin building them.
In late 2024, the Navy’s warship production schedule was described by The Associated Press as being in its worst shape in 25 years. It blamed labor shortages at the few private-sector shipyards that can build them alongside design changes, priority shifts and cost overruns.
The Arleigh-Burke class ships that are built at BIW have faced delays and labor overruns, according to a December report from the Congressional Budget Office. Each one is expected to spend nine years of its service life in maintenance, more than double the expectation in a 2012 estimate and more than a quarter of their projected lifespan.
BIW employs roughly 6,500 people at facilities from Bath to Brunswick. Any plans for a new class of ships could still be a massive boon to it and its parent company, General Dynamics. The shipyard issued a December statement saying it stands ready to assist the Trump administration in the design and construction of the ships.
“America’s warfighters deserve the most advanced, lethal and survivable combat ships we can deliver to protect our country and our families,” BIW President Charles Krugh said at the time.
Hegseth often uses the term “warfighter” in his speeches. The Republican president issued an executive order in September giving the Defense Department a secondary title of the “Department of War.” It would take an act of Congress to change the name officially, but Hegseth and the department have been using the “war” branding ever since.
The only Republican in Maine’s congressional delegation, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, will not attend the Bath event, a spokesperson said. Collins voted against Hegseth’s nomination last year, noting the former Fox News host’s past arguments against women in combat and questioning his qualifications.
Spokespeople for other members of Maine’s delegation did not immediately respond to requests for comment on whether they would attend.
