Fact Check: Did Trump demand adding sails and cannons to US Navy ships?
WASHINGTON, DC: Amid tensions over conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, a social media post alleged that President Donald Trump has demanded that sails be added to United States Navy ships and is considering adding cannons too. The claim has sparked widespread mockery and speculation, requiring verification of the viral rumor.
Claim: Donald Trump demands adding sails and cannons to Navy ships
The claim first surfaced as a post on X, with an image showing a very large ship with a mast and sails.
The image included "Live" and a "Breaking News" chyron with a breaking news overlay text reading, “Trump Demands All Navy Ships Equipped With Sails, Cannons Also Being Considered.”
The claim spread across multiple platforms including X, Facebook, and Instagram, collectively garnering more than a million views as of this writing.
The post drew speculation from social media users who questioned its authenticity, prompting a fact-check.
Fact Check: Donald Trump never made such a remark
However, there is no evidence that the president made such a remark; hence, the claim is rated false. There are no official statements, announcements, or social media posts from the President or the White House that support the claim.
If the claim were true, it would not go unreported by prominent news media outlets, but a Google search for the claim yielded no reports of Trump talking about sails and cannons.
Also, despite having ‘Breaking News’ overlay text and news-like graphics on the image that accompanied the post, the image lacks the logo of news media outlets.
Given the comedic and false nature of the post, it is likely that the viral post was intended as a satire, made for the sake of engagement.
Donald Trump pushed steam-powered catapults for Navy carriers
The claim surfaced after Trump recently ordered the Pentagon to redesign the Navy’s next aircraft carrier to use steam-powered catapults instead of the electromagnetic launch system.
The remark reflects Trump’s repeated criticisms of the modern system as too complicated and expensive, which go back to 2017.
“So I said, ‘What is this?’ ‘Sir, this is our digital catapult system,’” Trump said during an interview with Time that year. “It sounded bad to me. Digital. They have digital. What is digital? And it’s very complicated; you have to be Albert Einstein to figure it out.”
“I said, ‘No, you’re not. You(’re) going to goddamned steam; the digital costs hundreds of millions of dollars more money, and it’s no good,’” he added.
