"Golden Fleet": Trump presents a new generation of large warships while launching threats against Maduro and Petro

President Donald Trump announced Monday the launch of the "Golden Fleet," an ambitious naval reconstruction plan that calls for the addition of large warships—including new battleships—while reinforcing a strategy of military and economic pressure against the regime of Nicolás Maduro and drug trafficking networks in the Caribbean and Latin America.

From his residence in Mar-a-Lago, accompanied by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and Navy Secretary John Phelan, Trump confirmed that he approved plans to build at least two "very large battleships" as part of a fleet that could scale to 20 to 25 units in the coming years. According to the Republican leader, these ships will be heavily armed platforms, combining advanced missiles with traditional naval artillery, and will be designed to exercise maritime supremacy on a large scale.

Trump also claimed that the ships will be "100 times more powerful than any battleship ever built" and confirmed that the Navy will immediately begin the procurement process.

Images shown at the presentation behind the president showed two of the new ships: a "Trump-class" and another vessel named USS Defiant.

"We haven't built a battleship since 1994. These cutting-edge vessels will be some of the most lethal surface warfare ships… other than our submarines," Trump said

During the press conference following the announcement, Trump was asked about military issues, including the political, military and legal pressure campaign against the Chavista dictator Nicolás Maduro and the U.S. stance toward the Venezuelan regime.

"Venezuela did terrible things to the United States... they sent their criminals, they sent their prisoners, they sent their drug dealers... and we just let them come right in because we were run by a stupid president — but you don't have a stupid president anymore," Trump said of the Chavista dictatorship.

Asked if his goal is to remove Maduro from power, Trump said it would be "smart" for the Chavista dictator to leave on his own: "Well, I think probably yes. I don’t know; that depends on him. I think it would be smart if he did."

He then issued a direct threat to Maduro: "We have a massive armada formed, the biggest we've ever had. He can do whatever he wants. That’s fine. But if he plays tough, it’ll be the last time he’s ever able to play tough."

Recently, the United States seized two oil tankers from Venezuela that sought to evade U.S. sanctions while operating under phantom, false registrations and flags. In total, some 1.9 million barrels of crude oil were seized.

The press asked Trump what would happen to that oil, and the president was clear: the barrels will remain under U.S. control.

"We’re going to keep it... maybe we’ll use it in the Strategic Reserves... We’re keeping the ships also," Trump said.

In addition to threatening Maduro and his regime, Trump also warned the leftist president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, to start fighting Colombian cocaine labs more efficiently.

"He has to watch because he's got drug factories... He's no friend to the United States... and he's got to watch his ass because he makes cocaine, and they send it into the United States of America from Colombia," Trump said about Petro.

In addition, the president opened the door to ground attacks against regional narco-terrorist organizations and made it clear that Venezuela is not the only country that could be affected by operations of this style.

In that sense, the Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, defended operations against drug traffickers: "There are no fishing poles, no fishermen, and no fishing boats—just DRUG DEALERS and NARCO-TERRORISTS. With every strike, we are saving American lives."