The White House is moving to establish a fifth public naval shipyard to increase the U.S. Navy’s maintenance capacity, according to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought. The initiative is a key component of President Donald Trump’s broader strategy to expand the U.S. fleet to 450 ships by 2031.
Vought announced the push at the IndoPac 2026 conference, emphasizing that the administration intends to back its maritime goals with significant industrial investment. The project follows signals from Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao, who has advocated for a new facility on the West Coast to improve submarine readiness. This expansion is designed to close the gap with China’s naval capacity, which currently stands at approximately 370 ships.
To manage the scale of this maritime revival, the OMB has launched a dedicated shipbuilding office. Vought stated that this office will act as a management division to expedite resource allocation and bypass bureaucratic hurdles. The administration’s fiscal year 2027 budget includes a $65.8 billion request specifically for shipbuilding. Currently, the U.S. operates four public shipyards in Virginia, Maine, Washington, and Hawaii, all of which are undergoing long-term modernization.
While the administration remains focused on military readiness, the broader policy also aims to address the decline of U.S. commercial shipbuilding. According to data from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the U.S. accounts for only 0.1% of global commercial shipbuilding output, while China maintains a 53% share. The White House Maritime Action Plan seeks to address these imbalances through workforce development and increased domestic production.