The Trump administration’s Christmas gift to BIW came early. On December 22nd, the administration announced the Navy would be axing the DDG(X) program in favor of building “Trump-class” battleships.1 BIW President Chuck Krugh praised this pivot. In a memo to all employees on Wednesday, Krugh assured everyone that:
The significant performance improvement BIW has shown over the past three years positions us… to compete for this future work: building a battleship.2
Rank-and-file employees aren’t so sure. Mechanics who worked on the Zumwalt class remember doubts about whether the drydock could handle the load. Even after dredging, they recall the Zumwalt barely making it downriver.
Thursday’s “Fast Fact” did nothing to reassure these doubtful employees. “Did you know Bath Iron Works built one of the U.S. Navy’s early battleships?” a new memo read. “Launched in 1904, USS Georgia (BB 15) was 441 feet long—smaller than today’s Arleigh Burke destroyers and much smaller than the World War II era Iowa-class battleships, which were almost twice as long at 860 feet.”3 Trump’s battleship will be between 840 and 880 feet long.4 This is comparable to the Iowa-class we never built, not the USS Georgia. Our drydock is only 704 feet long.5 Even if it can bear the load, Trump’s battleship will not fit. We may win the contract to design the battleship, but we will never build it. Not without serious capital investments.
In Maine News
Axios: Platner raises $5 million despite scandals
Maine Beacon: Maine small businesses, older adults struggle to cover new ACA premiums
Maine Morning Star: How Trump dismantled a promising energy industry — and what America lost
Maine Public: Maine’s $15.10 minimum wage now in effect
Portland Press Herald: Trump: Susan Collins ‘should never be elected to office again’
Sun Journal: Maine child care providers brace for freeze in federal aid
In National News
Elections
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- AP: Family and neighbors mourn woman who was shot by ICE agent and made Minneapolis home
- AP: What to know about the fatal shooting of a woman by an ICE officer in Minneapolis
- The Minnesota Star Tribune: Star Tribune identifies ICE agent who fatally shot woman in Minneapolis
- MPR News: Minneapolis schools cancel classes after Border Patrol clash disrupts dismissal at Roosevelt
- Vanity Fair: MAGA’s response to Minnesota ICE killing, don’t believe your eyes
January 6 anniversary
NLRB quorum
Venezuela
- Al Jazeera: Maduro abduction shows influence, limits of US Secretary of State Rubio
- AP: Senate pushes back on Trump’s military threats against Venezuela with war powers vote
- Forbes: Venezuela’s oil is worth as much as the magnificent seven
- Jacobin: Trump’s war on Latin America must be stopped [Branko Marcetic]
- New York Times: Why Trump refused to back Venezuela’s Machado
- People’s World: U.S. taxpayers will ‘reimburse’ corporations’ costs of stealing Venezuelan oil
- Politico: Trump says he’s prepared to send more US troops to Venezuela if interim president doesn’t cooperate
Axios: Republicans defy Trump and Mike Johnson on health care
IAM Union: Members at Toledo’s Libbey Glass end 18-week strike with strong ratified contract
Mother Jones: A new theory explains why Trump keeps threatening global takeovers
NPR: U.S. population growth is slowing. The immigration crackdown is a major factor
PEN America: Plato has been censored. What next?
Politico: Trump upended the US education system in 2025. It’s only the beginning
Reuters: Trump administration mulls payments to sway Greenlanders to join US
Did I miss something? Share what you’re reading with me, and I’ll try to include it next Friday!
- Matthew Olay, “Trump Announces New Class of Battleship,” US Department of War, news release (2025, December 22). ↩︎
- Chuck Krugh to all employees, January 7, 2026. ↩︎
- GDBIW Broadcasts to supervisors, January 8, 2026. ↩︎
- US Navy, “Golden Fleet,” web page, accessed January 9, 2026. ↩︎
- Heger Dry Dock, “BATH IRON WORKS, Bath, ME 28,000 LT Capacity Transfer Dock,” web page, accessed January 9, 2026. ↩︎
From The Deckplates 