Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to redesign a new US aircraft carrier so it can launch fighter jets using steam catapults rather than electromagnetic systems, a move he has advocated since at least 2017.
Trump signed a national security memorandum on Thursday directing the defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, and the acting secretary of the navy, Hung Cao, to prepare what he called a plan to replace key systems on the USS Doris Miller, a Ford-class carrier.
Memorandum sets a 60-day planning deadline
The memorandum gives the Pentagon leaders 60 days to develop “a plan on the required measures” to swap out the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System and the Advanced Weapons Elevators for “steam and hydraulic systems” for the construction of the USS Doris Miller.
The carrier is already two years behind schedule, according to the information in the report.
Trump has pushed the change for years
Trump has repeatedly criticised the electromagnetic launch system used on the latest US aircraft carriers, arguing that steam is preferable and that digital systems are too complicated.
His decision follows years of public remarks in which he described complaints about “digital” catapults and said he believed they were unnecessarily complex. In 2017, he told Time magazine that he questioned what he described as a “digital catapult system” and said it sounded complicated.
He said in the interview that he was told the Navy intended to stay with the digital approach, and he argued that steam would be better, adding that the digital option was more expensive.
Picture courtesy of The Hill
A review of Trump’s public comments by the Guardian shows he retold the same anecdote, with variations, every year from 2017 onward.
In 2018, he brought up the issue during a phone call connected to the USS Ronald Reagan while it was docked in Hong Kong. In 2019, he recounted the exchange with a “catapulter” to Republican donors at a fundraiser. In 2020, he incorporated it into campaign speeches during the pandemic. He again referenced it in 2021 at CPAC, in 2022 in a campaign speech in Texas, and in 2023 on the campaign trail in Iowa. He also repeated it shortly before the 2024 election at an event where he spoke to Tucker Carlson.
After returning to office in 2025, Trump raised steam catapults during the swearing-in of Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence and again in remarks to the crew of the USS George Washington, a carrier based in Japan.
Navy and industry warn of cost and integration risks
The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the order, said senior US Navy and industry leaders have resisted the move, citing the “enormous expense” involved in removing the complex system that was built into the design of the latest carriers.
General Atomics, the company that builds the electromagnetic aircraft launch system for the Ford-class ships, said the decision to revert to steam “warrants careful reconsideration”.
The company told the Journal that its work on the new ship is nearly 50% complete and that changing course at this stage would create “significant cost, schedule, and integration risks”.
US senator criticises Trump’s intervention
Senator Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat and former astronaut, reacted sharply to the news, writing on social media that he would not suggest engineering changes for a warship, and adding that he believed Trump should “stick to what he knows best – ballrooms, bankruptcy, and bullshit”.
The order comes amid separate reporting on an intensifying mental health crisis onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, where about 5,000 sailors and marines are said to be enduring a record-breaking deployment tied to the war with Iran.
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14 August 2026
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