Trump announces $6.6bn defense shipyard owned by top Republican donor’s firm

President Donald Trump traveled to Baltimore on Tuesday to unveil a $6. 6 billion shipbuilding facility at an idle industrial site in Sparrows Point. The plant will belong to Anduril Industries, a defense contractor whose founder, Palmer Luckey, is a significant Republican fundraiser. The Guardian reports that Luckey has hosted fundraisers for at least 20 GOP politicians, Trump among them, and has given $5. 9 million to Republican causes since 2017. Days earlier, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made Luckey an adviser to a new Pentagon initiative, Project Meridien, which studies how wars will be fought. Luckey did not attend.

Funding comes from $2. 9 billion from the Navy plus $3. 7 billion in private money. The facility, called Arsenal Two, is meant to make torpedo tubes and other sections for Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarines, but Anduril says it cannot produce parts until 2030. The company has built smaller unmanned maritime systems, yet has no known record in crewed submarine construction. Trump said taxpayers would get a 40% stake, though it is unclear what he meant or whether the government is taking equity.

Summarized by PolitiKool from The Guardian’s reporting. Read the full story at The Guardian →