Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine walks through NATO Headquarters in Brussel, Belgium, January 21, 2026 during the Military Committee in Chiefs of Defence Session. (DOW photo by Benjamin Applebaum)
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks in the Oval Office at the White House on May 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. President Trump announced his plans for the “Golden Dome,” a national missile defense system. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks alongside Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine (R) during a meeting with Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on January 15, 2026. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)
People bear Greenlandic flags as they gather in front of the U.S. consulate protest against U.S. President Donald Trump and his announced intent to acquire Greenland on January 17, 2026 in Nuuk, Greenland.
(Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
The Golden Fleet battleships are expected to be able to carry multiple weapon systems and other technologies that current destroyers do not have space for.
US President Donald Trump, alongside (L/R) Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine, speaks to the press following US military actions in Venezuela, at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, on January 3, 2026. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump leaves after announcing the US Navy’s new Golden Fleet initiative, unveiling a new class of warships, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on December 22, 2025. President Donald Trump on December 22 announced a new class of heavily armed warships that will be named after himself — an honor usually reserved for US leaders who have left office. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump addresses the nation from the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on December 17, 2025. (Photo by Doug MILLS / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)
U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (R) looks on as U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting of his Cabinet in the Cabinet Room of the White House on December 02, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Questions have swirled about what the administration's Taiwan policy will look like, as the White House pushes for an "America First" diplomatic approach.