US President Donald Trump on Monday announced a new class of heavily armed warships that will be named after himself — an honor usually reserved for leaders who have left office.

Two of the Trump-class ships will be built initially, but that number could grow substantially, according to the president, who said they will be “some of the most lethal surface warfare ships” and “the largest battleship in the history of our country”.

Trump made the announcement at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida alongside Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Navy Secretary John Phelan, with images of the planned high-tech vessels on stands nearby.

Asked if the planned warships are a counter to Washington’s rival Beijing, Trump declined to specify, instead saying: “It’s a counter to everybody, it’s not China. We get along great with China.”

He said the ships will weigh between 30,000 and 40,000 tons and will be armed with missiles and guns as well as weaponry still in development, such as lasers and hypersonic missiles.

They will also be capable of carrying atomic weapons in the form of the nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missile, Trump said.

The Trump-class ships will be substantially larger than existing US destroyers and cruisers, but the projected displacement cited by the president is somewhat smaller than the last American battleships — from the Iowa class — which were retired in the 1990s.

‘Most powerful fleet anywhere’

Trump — who has complained in the past about the appearance of US ships — said he would be involved in the design along with the Navy “because I’m a very aesthetic person”.

Trump’s announcement came just days after the Navy publicised plans for another new class of ships — frigates dubbed the FF(X) that it said will “complement the fleet’s larger, multi-mission warships”.

Phelan has said the FF(X) will be based on an existing design from shipbuilder HII that is already in use by the United States Coast Guard, and that the aim is for the first of the new frigates to be in the water by 2028.

The new frigate plans were announced after Phelan said in late November that four of six planned ships from the Constellation class of frigates would be canceled, while two that are already under construction are “under review”.

Washington has fallen significantly behind Beijing when it comes to the number of ships in its Navy, and a report to Congress earlier this year noted that US military officials and other observers are concerned by the pace of China’s shipbuilding efforts.

“We’re going to restore America as a major shipbuilding power,” Trump said on Monday, adding: “We’re going to ensure the USA has the most powerful fleet anywhere in the world, and long into the future, with battleships helping lead the way.“