Trump Requests South Korea Build 10 U.S. Navy Warships

Donald Trump has proposed that South Korea accelerate U.S. naval shipbuilding by quickly producing 10 American warships. The initiative, termed Make American Shipbuilding Great Again (MASGA), is part of a broader $350 billion South Korean investment package in the U.S., which allocates $150 billion specifically to shipbuilding and supply chain projects.

The proposal began during a meeting at the G7 summit in France, where Trump questioned South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on the capacity of Korean firms to meet the request. The two leaders later met at a NATO summit banquet in Ankara, Turkey, where they agreed to launch working-level consultations to determine the arrangements for this cooperation.

In response, the United States Navy and the Department of Defense issued requests for information to leading South Korean shipbuilders. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hanwha Ocean, and Samsung Heavy Industries provided data on their design expertise and capacity to build destroyers and medium-sized fleet replenishment ships. The U.S. Navy aims to expand its fleet from approximately 300 ships to 381 vessels by 2054.

Legal obstacles, including the Jones Act and the Byrnes-Tollefson Act, currently prohibit building U.S. Navy ships in foreign yards. To bypass these restrictions, South Korean firms are expanding U.S. operations. These actions include Hanwha Ocean's acquisition of Philly Shipyard and partnerships between Korean firms and U.S. companies such as Huntington Ingalls Industries and General Dynamics NASSCO.