Trump Announces New Battleships Amid 15-Year Recruiting High

The United States Department of War announced on December 23, 2025, that military recruiting for fiscal year 2025 reached its highest percentage of mission achievement in more than 15 years. All active-duty branches met or exceeded their targets, averaging 103% across five services. The Navy recorded the highest success at 108.61%, while the Army Reserve only achieved 75% of its goal. Officials attributed these figures to the leadership of Donald Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, alongside improvements in medical screening and aptitude courses.

Concurrent with these reports, President Trump announced at Mar-a-Lago that he approved the construction of two new large-scale battleships, beginning with the USS Defiant. Navy Secretary John Phelan described the vessel as the largest and deadliest warship on the world's oceans. This naval expansion follows Trump's signing of the fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, which increases total troop end strength by approximately 26,100 personnel.

Recruiting for fiscal year 2026 is already underway, with the department meeting nearly 40% of its delayed entry program accession goals since October. Despite the surge, a Defense Department Inspector General report found that the Army and Navy underreported the initial aptitude scores of recruits who completed preparatory courses.