What does Trump know about steam technology that the US Navy and China don’t?
Baffling Beyond Belief
Please note the Executive Order To Go Back To Steam Catapults On New Aircraft Carriers Is Coming.
resident Donald Trump says he plans to sign an executive order that would compel the U.S. Navy to use steam-powered catapults and hydraulic elevators on new aircraft carriers. Trump has railed against the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) catapults and Advanced Weapons Elevators (AWE) on the USS Gerald R. Ford, the Navy’s newest supercarrier, for years now. Ford‘s catapults and elevators have faced reliability and maintenance issues, but swapping out these features, even just for future ships in the class, would involve an extremely costly and time-consuming redesign that would further delay new carriers entering service.
Trump announced his intention to issue an executive order regarding carrier catapults and weapons elevators during often free-wheeling remarks to servicemembers aboard the Nimitz class carrier USS George Washington earlier today.
The Navy currently has 10 Nimitz class carriers, which have steam-powered catapults and hydraulic weapons elevators. In addition to the in-service USS Gerald R. Ford, there are three more Ford class carriers now in various stages of construction. The Navy’s stated plan has been to eventually acquire at least 10 Ford class flattops to replace the Nimitz class.
“I’m putting out an order, I’m going to sign an executive order, when we build aircraft carriers, it’s steam for the catapults and it’s hydraulic for the elevators,” Trump said after suggesting, without elaborating, that water could disable Ford‘s electromagnetic systems. “We’ll never have a problem.”
“I’m gonna put in an order, seriously,” the President also said. “They’re spending billions of dollars to build stupid electric. And the problem, when it breaks, you have to send up to MIT, get the most brilliant people in the world, fly them out. The steam, they said they can fix it with a hammer and blowtorch. And it works just as well, if not better.”
“They had steam, which worked so beautifully, and it has for 50 years, right? So we’re gonna go back. Seriously, fellas, I want to make that change. I’m gonna do an executive order,” he added. “I’m not going to let them continue to do this thing. They’re trying to make it work, they’re trying so hard, and they have something that’s perfect. So we’re going to go back on that and the magnets.”
This is hardly the first time Trump has criticized the Ford class design’s electromagnetic catapults and elevators, stretching back all the way to his first term. In 2017, he also indicated that he would order the Navy to abandon those features, but never followed through. If an executive order on this matter is now indeed coming, what it will actually direct the service to do remains to be seen.
TWZ has reached out to the White House, the Pentagon, and the Navy in regards to Trump’s remarks. The Pentagon redirected us to the Navy.
Replacing the EMALS (and likely the AAG as a result) and the AWEs on the Ford, or any of the other ships in the class currently under construction, would be an immensely more complicated, costly, and time-consuming proposition. The catapults and elevators are far more deeply integrated into the core structure of the ship than the DBR. Even just changing the design for future carriers in the class would be extremely complex. A hybrid arrangement involving a mix of steam and EMALS capabilities might be an option, but would then create two systems that need to be integrated together, as well as sustained once operational.
Any massive changes to the underlying Ford class design of the ships could easily have cascading effects in that regard, on top of cost growth and other issues. This, in turn, could upend Navy plans for replacing retiring Nimitz class carriers at a time when the service’s carrier fleet overall has been under particular strain due to high operational demands in recent years. Just last week, the Pentagon ordered Ford to cut its scheduled cruise in Europe short and set sail for the Caribbean to support expanded counter-drug operations in that part of the world.
Beyond just his vocal opposition to Ford‘s electromagnetic catapults and weapons elevators, Trump has a long history of being particularly outspoken when it comes to U.S. naval ship design and force planning, as well as the aesthetics of those vessels.
It is also worth noting here that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has skipped steam-powered catapults entirely in its carrier force plans. The PLAN has moved straight from short take-off, but arrested recovery (STOBAR) carriers with ski jump bows, and no catapults at all, to the new EMALS-equipped Fujian. China’s new supersized Type 076 amphibious assault ship also has a single catapult, which is understood to be an EMALS type.
Everybody Agrees?
No, everybody does not agree. Can Trump name one person outside the administration who does agree?
But that’s OK. I hear that steam is beautiful, and in this age of golden this and golden that, beauty is important.
Rumsfeld Flashback
In 2003 Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said the war in Iraq would cost 3.9 Billion.
In 2014 I noted Defense Dept. to Request $30-40 Billion a Year to Fight ISIS; History Lessons
Anyone recall how the war in Iraq would pay for itself? That was the US Defense Department estimate in 2003.
Now some $3 trillion later (add in veterans’ benefits, depreciation of equipment, humanitarian aid, covert action, and paying for the military efforts of our coalition ‘partners’ and the Total Cost of Iraq, Afghan Wars is $4-6 Trillion.
That was the 2014 cost. The US did not withdraw its last troops from Afghanistan until August 30, 2021. And most Republicans wanted to stay.
Trump’s estimate for the “golden dome” is far less than other estimates.
On May 21, 2025, I asked How Much Will Trump’s “Golden Dome” Missile Defense Shield Cost?
Trump says $175 Billion. The CBO says $542 billion. Think much higher.
Also note that Trump thinks it’s a good idea to resume nuclear testing. For discussion, please see Is US Resumption of Testing Nuclear Weapons a Good Idea?
“Nobody knows more than the Don does about everything!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR3f95BGIiA
Carriers today are just updated expensive Love Boat versions of obsolete battleships that had their day, but now staffed with ensign Hot Lips and Ratchets for more equal outcomes and inclusion for the don’t ask don’t tell fifty genders sinking to the bottom. . . .
Here’s a video from Inside China Business comparing the US aircraft carrier electromagnetic catapult system to the Chinese system.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBr0zOE5930
So China figured out this tech, and we didn’t. Go figure Trump would fold like a pup tent and go back to the tech of yestercentury
Trump’s living between the 1890s & 1920s.
All lessons learned since then are lost on him.
Nothing. The answer to your initial question is he knows nothing.
my uncle was in the Navy, about 60 years ago my dad and I visited him in Norfolk, there was an aircraft carrier in dry dock. He took us onto the ship, I only remember being on that big flat deck. I also remember seeing the giant propeller. Anyway, my dad asked how they launched the planes, and my uncle said “steam”.
I asked Gemini if nigetia has rare earth minerals
” Gemini
Conversation with Gemini
Does nigeria have rare earth minerals?
Yes, Nigeria does have rare earth minerals (REMs). 🌍
These minerals are considered a significant, though largely underdeveloped, part of the country’s solid mineral wealth, which the government is now actively trying to leverage for economic diversification.
📌 Key Facts on Rare Earths in Nigeria
Primary Mineral Source: The most widely reported and significant source of rare earth elements in Nigeria is the mineral monazite (Ce,La,Nd,Th)(PO
4
) . Monazite is rich in Light Rare Earth Elements (LREEs).
Key Elements Present: The main rare earth elements found include:
Neodymium (Nd): Crucial for high-strength magnets used in Electric Vehicles (EVs) and wind turbines.
Cerium (Ce) and Lanthanum (La): Used in catalysts, polishing powders, and battery technology.
Praseodymium (Pr): Also used in rare-earth magnets.
Yttrium (Y): A rare earth element found in trace amounts, often associated with columbite-tantalite.
Scandium (Sc): Another rare earth element that has been shown to be potentially present in bauxite deposits.
Location: Rare earth occurrences are scattered across multiple states, primarily found in heavy mineral sand deposits and pegmatite formations. Key states with known potential include:
Nasarawa State (Emerging as a potential processing hub)
Plateau State
Cross River State
Kaduna State
Niger State
Development Status: The industry is still in its infancy, with most extraction being small-scale or as a by-product of other mining (like tin/columbite). However, there are plans for major investment, including the development of a large rare earth and critical minerals processing plant in Nasarawa State, signaling a strategic push towards in-country value addition (processing the raw ore into higher-value products).
Rare earth elements are 17 metallic elements vital for modern technology, including smartphones, electric vehicle batteries, wind turbines, and defense systems.”
We should also go back to kerosene lighting. Can fix any issues with a hammer. Do not need any pesky electrical generating stations and grid management systems.
Cars are really complex also. Horse and buggies are very reliable and easy to keep running.
I’m with Trump here. I have 2 steam locos, 2 steam traction engines and one steam lorry. At my loco club, we have lots of steam engines. Okay, pretty small because we ride on them, not in them, but we all love steam power. Unfortunately, like trump, we don’t know anything about aircraft carriers.
It’s another micromanaging effort on his part. everything he has micromanaged is an abject failure except when evaluated by him or his lackies. I am getting fed up with about everything he is doing and really upset that everything he says has to be verified.
Donald Trump, thrice married, failed casino, professional football league, and airline operator, disgraced for-profit education entrepreneur, and twice impeached President, should stay in his lane. Still, we know that it is an impossible thing for him to do.
Donald Trump brands himself as all-knowing and a person with a perfect winning record in everything that he has ever done. The reality of his history is precisely the opposite. He has been consistently wrong with most of the public proclamations he has made throughout his lifetime, and his personal and professional failings are exceptionally well-documented.
Next week: Mamdani. Without tax credit Obama affordable care isn’t affordable. It’s dead. In Nov Obama, Hakeem and Chuck might unleash George Floyd #2. The dems don’t care about the poor and illegal immigrants. They want to destabilize this country and to oust Trump, as they did 5 years ago. This time Trump will rule with an iron fist.
Aren’t you a delight? Do you know anyone who has been a long-time Democrat? I know quite a few. I grew up in a rural part of the country, and half of my family were Democrats, and the other half were Republicans. The Democratic side was farmers and teachers. The Republican side of the family consisted of business owners and engineers. Those farmers and teachers were truly exceptional individuals. I know quite a few Democrats today, and they are all educated and hardworking people who volunteer in their communities and are generally quite charitable. Your dystopian view of our country is pretty disturbing. I feel sorry for you.
Both parties changed for the worst.
We watch Antifa destroy the rule of law, hordes of immigrants pouring across the border, profligate waste by politicians, zero accountability….
AND DO NOTHING. What does that say about us?
‘Keep it simple stupid’ makes sense sometimes. When a large part of the US Navy is in dry-dock, or plain out-of-service’ reliability is crucial. When a vessel is 5,000 miles away from mainland USA, service becomes exponentially more difficult… If the crew can’t fix it, you’re f*(ked.
There are also new technologies that demand vast quantities of electricity–laser cannons and E_M Rail guns, for example, that might be retrofitted.
Now, let’s talk about the massive group think that dominates the US military. There are two shockingly bad examples.
Littoral combat shipForce Design 2030 to restructure the Marines.
Japan, S. Korea and Taiwan invested in indigenous ship building. All three have littoral ships and frigates. Japan has approx: 50, S. Korea: 30 and Taiwan: 20. They are perfect for shallow water ports. India has 30 littoral ships and 20 frigates. Total: 150. They also have bigger ships equipped with modern weapons and radars. They, along with the US, can defend the western pacific coast lines.
My point was not who builds, but the group think that exists in the upper echelon of the US military because no one below questions those in command.
First of all, the electro-magnetic catapult system & the electric elevator system have had numerous problems on the Ford aircraft carrier. These are typical teething problems of all new, advanced systems.
That being said, when Trump gave his speech to the sailors, it was on the USN-Wasp, which is an ‘amphibious assault ship’. This is mainly a helicopter platform and also has vertical takeoff & landing F-35Bs. This ship does not have catapults. So, when Trump asked the sailors whether they preferred steam or electromagnetic launchers, the sailors that yelled “steam!” had no idea what they were talking about.
Sailors may still be aware of the issues, and like have a better idea than most of us.
Not mentioned was the requirement for the USN to add a “green capability” to the arresting system, in order to generate electricity when the aircraft “trapped”! How stupid and waste of taxpayers money was that boondoggle, when you have a nuclear power plant generating all the “green” energy you need!
Golden dome (or at least a minimal functional version) is probably not possible without the cooperation of our neighboring countries (which we have pissed off with our unilateral trade restrictions and bad-mouthing), so it’s a dud. Doubt it will make any progress after this term.
Magnetic launch systems create huge magnetic fields that could activate mines. Not all of a motor’s magnetic field is contained in the stator and rotor. As it stands, mines are sensitive enough to detect a disturbance in the Earth’s magnetic field as an iron ship moves along the surface. Degaussing the ship will become even more difficult.
Preparing to fight WW2 again, while one hypersonic missle can punch thru the deck of any aircraft carrier and send the floating coffin to its watery grave. I feel sorry for the troops who have such idiots for leaders. Maybe they should go back to golden stirrups for our horse cavalry. The parades would be so beautiful.
Thinking the same thing. The US is more prepared to fight WWII than ever! Just like France was ready to re-fight WWI when WWII came along.
Nine out of ten startups fail because nine out of ten “great ideas” pencil out on paper, but fall flat on their face in practice. Nuclear fusion reactors are a great example of this. Early adopters always think “new” means “better”, which is absolutely not the case. At best, one out of ten times, “new” means better, and quite frankly that number is likely a factor of ten on the high side. “Proven” means “better”, and “new” means “garbage”, at least nine out of ten times, no matter how good it sounds.
They launched my Dad’s airplane with a bag of powder from a 5″ naval gun.
You can fix steam powered equipment quickly during a sea battle. The electronic stuff can only be fixed at port, with great difficulty, and it breaks down often. Whoever it is that informed Trump was someone who actually cared about winning battles rather than being some idiot early adopter. I have seen nothing about electronic aircraft carrier lifts other than how they are broken more often than working.
Electromagnetic without a doubt the superior system for launching anything.
The picture above: RTX radars on USS John Kennedy CVN 79.
USS Zumwalt shell cost $800,000/ round. It’s all about the cost of launching an aircraft.
Electromagnetic jolts might destroy planes computers and electronics.
Having a boat hit by lightning, one appreciates the damage from E-M. Everything with a circuit board is fried. As for E-M shielding, if it wasn’t in the microwave, it went in the trash. Imagine the issues with shielding an aircraft carrier–both internally (electronics etc) and externally (to avoid detection).
We have 11 carriers, but every 25 years every carrier gets a new nuke engine and equipment. It takes 4/5 years and cost $3B. Currently USS Stennis is under RCOH until Oct 2026. USS Tripoli LHA7amphibious assault ship, with Ospreys and F35B, will replace it in Japan. We have 11 carriers, but not all are active. We have assault ship and two more assault ships in construction by Huntington Ingalls in Pascagoula MS. Total: 25/30 aircraft carriers
Hey! Loose lips sink ships buddy!
1out of 4 steam catapults launch another plane on its way.
All of which are just really big, hard to defend targets.
The Hooties didn’t sink one ship. Defending ships is expensive. Our fleet left Yemen to attack Iran, but we are depleted. It will be quicker and cheaper when laser systems will be installed on ships. They can intercept drones and missiles. A Zumwalt with more silos for missiles, including Arrow #3 type to intercept Chinese missiles 1000 miles out in space and killer laser can provide a better protection to our fleet. We also have killer satellites. Most Chinse ballistic missiles are using liquid fuel. It takes two hours to launch them. Attacking their launching pads will neuter their threat.
Bloomberg: top Chinese generals were sacked, bc their ballistic missiles were filled with water in the tanks. bs: China’s ballistic missiles tanks are
empty, until Xi order to launch an attack.
Trebuchets against those Russkies and the Chinamen!
It would only take a nuclear war between India and Pakistan to turn the planet into nuclear winter.
The war after that will be fought with bows and arrows – trebuchets will be too high tech.
Magnets ?!
Them’s those suckers that Xi doesn’t wanna sell us. F¡ck that.
I’ve run up a trauma having to grovel about magnets.
Trump is steps ahead of everybody on this, way more prescient.
Besides, magnets, DEI, electric cars, solar energy, climate, China … it’s all one ball of wax with this leftist loonie electrificist crowd. Fuggettabout it.
Nothing marks a great manager more than reaching right through the entire organization and minding small details beyond your scope of control, disempowering the entire hierarchy, thereby creating confusion in the lines of competence and accountability, and creating definitive game-stoppers for the whole project.
Caligula instructs the seamstress on how to do the stitch.
Micro-managing only matters when the stitch is crucial to performance.
He’s actually correct. WAY more reliable
And the Chinese build an aircraft carrier not needing a catapult at all. Smarter and cheaper, we’ll never catch up. And where they need catapults they use electric but they actually make them work.
Steam? Is this a return to the 18th century? Is there someone shoveling coal into a furnace to make the steam? [lol]
Its called dumbass once again doesn’t understand the difference between certain words nothing more or less.
You realize practically our whole civilization is dependent upon boiling water and using the steam to make huge metal things spin around, right?
Again, we are in the year 2025, not the 18th century.
he’s worried about non-working catapaults for bombing Venezuela
Aircraft catapults, not catapults. Big difference. You can fix those with welding. The complexity and error analysis is close to zero, unlike electromagnetic systems. Which would you trust more, a battery powered airplane or fuel powered?
When it comes to Trump, you always need to ask the question of who stands to profit?
https://kdwalmsley.substack.com/p/revolutionary-catapult-gives-chinese
The yellow man stole my aye-peee!
Wow… I’ve been around this stuff… worked at Newport News Shipbuilding from 1979 to 2013 in as a DOD Navy civilian engineer. EMAL’s work great on land based test facilities.. Scaling them up to have 4 working at a fast cycle rate on a ship and deal with vibration, shock, weather extremes, limited space, weight and other and other issues is a challenge. And it doesn’t help when you are required to work with minority contractors and DEI. Steam cats are a proven and time tested technology, but they do have their own challenges and drawbacks. For instance. Every time you launch a plane you lose all the steam,, this means you have to be running distilling systems 24/7 to make clean water that can be fed into the steam system. Every time you suck steam out of the propulsion system to fill the launch accumulators it can affect ship’s speed,, especially if you are going flat out to get wind across the flight deck on a calm day. MAG lev weapons elevators,, great concept,, same types of problems.
And yes,,, it would cost a fortune to do a redesign. Early in the Ford construction when they worried if they could make EMAL’s work they estimated 500 million (half a billion) to do a redesign. Could easy be a billion by now…
..And it doesn’t help when you are required to work with minority contractors and DEI…
so you’re saying the manufacturer of the EMAL, General Atomics Electromagnet Systems, are just a bunch of jumped-up n****** and ditzy blondes?
yes unless trump wakes up and realizes that Electro Magnetic and Magnetic are not the same. Then we will all be for it.
Top Gun is politely saying it’s a boondoggle. You missed the most important part of the comment:
This was a polite way of saying it didn’t work most of the time, and still doesn’t. Also, you can’t do repairs at sea which is kind of inconveinient if you are halfway across the world and are informed you have to attack within four hours.
Sadly most here do not understand the importance of this:
“Also, you can’t do repairs at sea which is kind of inconveinient if you are halfway across the world.”
Boeing never a had a problem in this respect.
Mish is out of his depth, here. Way out of his depth. TDS compelled him to talk about this, not his first hand knowledge of the subject area. If Trump is doing it, it must be bad!
Do an Internet search for “electromagnetic carrier repairs at sea”.
Every single commenter on this article is out of their depth on this topic. But that’s kind of the point: nobody commenting here is more out of depth on this topic than Donald J Trump. Which is exactly why the Navy hires real scientists and engineers to deal with these kinds of topics as opposed to failed real estate developers and internet commenters on mishtalk. Mish gets this. Most don’t.
Purchase decisions are made by politicians, not scientists and engineers. In fact, they commision reports to back whatever they want to happen. I worked for a military contactor at a fairly high level, and I definitely have first hand knowledge of this.
As the article mentioned “Ford‘s catapults and elevators have faced reliability and maintenance issues,”
This has been known since commissioning. The catapults tested out fine on land but at sea they did not function well. Exactly why I don’t know.
The electromagnetic catapults were supposed to be more adjustable for launching drones and of course use no water. It’s not working out.
Also not working out was the rail gun that was supposed to go on the Zumwalt class destroyers. Complete failure there too. I wonder what the failures have in common other than giant magnetic fields in a steel ship surrounded by conductive seawater.
It might take several generations before the problems are solved. Readers should check out this to get a sense of the problem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degaussing
I think the Houthis have already demonstrated that aircraft carriers are sitting ducks.
Not if you zigzag and drift!!
Hmm…I should’ve included the /sarc tag, after all.
lol
Just like the weave by Trump….perfect.
Ukraine showed a 100 dollar drown can and will sink ships easily. The USA is just blowing money, thats all gotta keep the defense system up its making hundreds of billionaires to fund politicians.
It precedes the Houthi’s. Anyone who has been in air defense for the past decade should know that aircraft carriers are dead if we go against any “near peer” adversary. “Near peer” nations began developing “maneuvering” missiles back then, and now they are lethal and very accurate.
I served on a carrier for three years (not as an actual Captain! – that was just my unfortunate nickname for apparently being too hairy) and I found this fact about flight operations to be very interesting…the impacts felt from the various aircraft landing on the flight deck were far less disruptive than I expected them to be, even if I was working only a few feet below the action on the “03 level” (the deck that exists within the thickness of the flight deck itself). The launches, however, jolted the ENTIRE ship in a very noticeable way each and every time one of the four steam catapults was used to send another plane on its way. Those steam pistons were no joke. The ship was CV-64, USS Constellation.
> CaptainCaveman
You’re really that guy from The Cannonball Run, aren’t you!!
😉
Ok, why? It’s not his idea, for sure. I’m sure he’ll take credit for it, thoh. Unless there’s some sort of emp, etc that can disable the electromagnets thus leaving planes unable to launch. Which he knows nothing about except what he’s told. All these guys step in with grand plans for the entire world as if they are experts on everything and know every country etc. Just a mouthpiece
Trump is old and not very smart. But everyone who can think already knew this.
I wonder where we get those magnets from?
Yes. They already knew that steam worked reliably, and if hit directly by a bomb could be fixed “quickly”, at sea. Sadly, that is UNTRUE for the electromagnetic stuff.
He’s been ranting about steam and coal elevators since his first presidency
https://news.usni.org/2017/05/11/president-trump-wants-ford-carriers-use-goddamned-steam-catapults-instead-no-good-electromagnetic-launchers