The next industry Trump is zeroing in on

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China is building ships faster than any country in the world — but President DONALD TRUMP wants to close that gap.
The White House is moving forward with a sweeping strategy to revive domestic shipbuilding by combining foreign investment, new industry incentives and fees aimed at Chinese-built ships. And Trump is eyeing Finland as a key part of the approach.
'I want to buy icebreakers. …You're the king of icebreakers,' Trump declared to a Finnish reporter at the NATO summit earlier this week, adding that he's personally negotiating with Finnish President ALEXANDER STUBB, whose golf game Trump admires.
'I actually made him an offer,' Trump said. 'There's a … used icebreaker. And I offered him one-third of what he asked for, but we're negotiating.'
Behind the bravado is a serious effort to rebuild the U.S. fleet, starting with Arctic icebreakers that can help the U.S. gain an edge in the Arctic as it becomes more navigable due to warming temperatures, and extending into a broader effort to reestablish America's shipbuilding base, which produces just 1 percent of commercial ships globally.
According to a person familiar with the conversations and granted anonymity to discuss them, the administration's plan involves buying that used icebreaker from Finland and possibly building additional vessels in Helsinki as a stopgap solution. The long-term goal is to construct the remainder of the U.S. icebreaking fleet in a Texas shipyard owned by Canadian firm Davie Shipbuilding.
Expanding the U.S. icebreaker fleet to further U.S. goals in the Arctic is just one front in a broader administration initiative to boost domestic commercial and naval shipbuilding, a sector where the U.S. lags far behind.
The strategy is being coordinated by the National Security Council's new shipbuilding office, led by IAN BENNITT, and includes both carrots and sticks. Trump's April executive order on shipbuilding authorizes new incentives and expands mariner training and upgrades to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.
At the same time, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is preparing to collect new port fees on Chinese-built ships. The revenue will be funneled into a Maritime Security Trust Fund to support domestic fleet expansion and attract private-sector investment.
It's a rare policy area that's drawn bipartisan support. Sens. TODD YOUNG (R-Ind.) and MARK KELLY (D-Ariz.) are co-sponsoring the SHIPS for America Act, which largely aligns with the administration's shipbuilding agenda.
Industry has taken notice.
South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha plans to double jobs with a major investment to upgrade its Philadelphia shipyard using federal subsidies promised by the Trump administration. French shipping giant CMA CGM visited the White House and pledged a $20 billion investment to bolster the nation's shipbuilding infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Office of Management and Budget Director RUSS VOUGHT is bringing in shipbuilding expertise of his own. JERRY HENDRIX, a naval analyst and former member of the NSC's shipbuilding office, is joining OMB as deputy to the associate director for defense. His hire signals the administration's intention to dedicate significant resources to shipbuilding in the upcoming White House defense budget.
'There are huge opportunities to really start to put the resources down to accelerate this maritime revival,' said the Heritage Foundation senior research fellow BRENT SADLER. 'But if the next few months aren't seized aggressively, we'll be deep into midterm elections — and lose another two years.'
'If you're looking at a war with China, which is really what should be pressing everyone for urgency, we're getting later and later to task,' Sadler said.
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POTUS PUZZLER
Which former president was nominated for 10 Grammys?
(Answer at bottom.)
Agenda Setting
UNDERPREPARED? DOGE-driven cuts to federal agencies are weakening the Trump administration's ability to respond to the Iran conflict, CNN's JEREMY HERB, SEAN LYNGAAS, MICHAEL WILLIAMS, GABE COHEN and ANNIE GRAYER report. Current and former federal officials warned that sweeping changes to the agencies that handle cybersecurity, disaster response, diplomacy and counterterrorism have left the country less prepared to deal with potential retribution from Iran.
The ceasefire between Israel and Iran is holding — for now — and Iran's attempted strike on an American military base in Qatar earlier this week was largely performative. But officials said Iran is better positioned to retaliate non-militarily — via cyber attacks, for example. Hundreds of cybersecurity experts have left the federal government since Trump took office.
BRACE FOR MORE 'MANDATE' TALK: Pew Research Center today handed Trump and his administration more ammunition to back up their frequent assertions that they have 'a mandate' from the American people to implement their disruptive agenda. According to a new Pew report, Trump benefitted from higher voter turnout more than former Vice President KAMALA HARRIS, our AARON PELISH reports.
That's a reversal of the decadeslong electoral trend that indicated Democrats are more popular among people who haven't voted, and yet another warning sign for a party still reeling from a crushing defeat eight months ago. The report also found that 85 percent of the voters who supported Trump in 2020 showed up to vote for him again in 2024; only 79 percent of people who supported former President JOE BIDEN voted for Harris.
GET YOUR FLU SHOT WHILE YOU STILL CAN: A panel of vaccine advisers appointed by HHS Secretary ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. voted today to recommend that no one receive a flu shot that contains a preservative that's long been targeted by both the anti-vaccine movement and Kennedy, our SOPHIE GARDNER and LAUREN GARDNER report.
If the CDC adopts the recommendation, it will mark one of the first major changes in federal vaccine guidance and access as Kennedy embarks on his goal of remaking immunization policy in his image. The CDC director usually needs to endorse the recommendations before they are official, but Kennedy himself will likely be the one to endorse them because the agency currently has no director or acting director.
THAT'S PRICEY: The closure of USAID will cost federal taxpayers more than $6 billion, including a hefty tab to fight legal challenges brought by fired workers, according to a draft State Department document, Bloomberg Government's IAN KULLGREN and JACK FITZPATRICK report. The estimate, included in a memo prepared for Secretary of State MARCO RUBIO, raises questions about how much the agency's closure will affect the savings Trump has promised taxpayers due to administration-wide cuts.
In the Courts
'DEMOCRACY IS AT RISK': Former Supreme Court Justice ANTHONY KENNEDY warned today that 'hostile, fractious discourse' and threats to the judiciary are putting democracy and freedom 'at risk,' our JOSH GERSTEIN reports. Kennedy, who stepped down from the bench in 2018, avoided specifics, but the Reagan appointee's remarks appeared to be triggered at least in part by the strident attacks Trump and his administration have mounted against judges.
JOB CORPS IS SAFE… FOR NOW: A federal judge on Wednesday ordered that the Labor Department must keep Job Corps, a career training program for low-income young adults, running until a lawsuit against its suspension is resolved, AP's CATHY BUSSEWITZ reports. The injunction strengthened a temporary restraining order U.S. District Judge ANDREW CARTER issued earlier this month directing the department to cease shutting the program down without congressional approval.
What We're Reading
He Made Gay Marriage the Law of the Land. Now He's Fighting a Larger War. (POLITICO Magazine's Dylon Jones)
Some Things We Don't Do Anymore (This American Life's Ira Glass, David Kestenbaum, Diane Wu, Chico Harlan and Ike Sriskandarajah)
A.I. Is Starting to Wear Down Democracy (NYT's Steven Lee Myers and Stuart A. Thompson)
POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER
That would be former President JIMMY CARTER, who was nominated for 10 Grammys and won four times — including one awarded posthumously. The wins and nominations were in the Best Audio Book, Narration, and Storytelling Recording category, previously known as Best Spoken Word Album. Former Presidents BILL CLINTON and BARACK OBAMA each have two Grammys.