While speaking with Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo on her show “Sunday Morning Futures,” President Trump announced that a major international shipping concern, the CMA CGM Group, will invest $20 billion in U.S. maritime shipping and supply chain industries.
.@POTUS: “What we’re doing is we’re building a tremendous foundation for the future… Everything’s been taken away. We don’t make ships anymore. You just saw one of the biggest ship builders in the world in the Oval Office. He’s announcing a $20B investment in the United States.” pic.twitter.com/b7FkQDfJ87
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 9, 2025
The president took the opportunity to tout several recent successes:
PRESIDENT TRUMP: What we’re doing is, we’re building a tremendous foundation for the future. Tremendous foundation. Everything’s been taken away. We don’t make ships anymore. We don’t… You know, you just saw one of the biggest shipbuilders in the world, one of the biggest shipping people in the whole world…
MARIA BARTIROMO: In the Oval Office with you.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: In the Oval Office. He’s announcing a $20 billion in the United States, which he never would have done, except for this. But look at this; Honda, Toyota, they’re all coming in. You take a look at what’s happening, chipmaker, the greatest chipmaker, Mr. Wei, the biggest in the world, by far, is going to spent $200 billion on making a massive plant to make chips.
MARIA BARTIROMO: So that’s your message, build it here?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Build it here, there’s no tariff.
The CMA CGM Group announced the deal on its website last Thursday.
CMA CGM Group, a global leader in sea, land, air, and logistics solutions, and owner of the U.S. flag carrier American President Lines (APL), today announced a $20 billion investment to contribute to U.S. maritime economy and support the transformation of America’s domestic supply chain over the next four years. This announcement builds on CMA CGM Group’s 35-year presence in the U.S. Today, the Group operates in 40 states and employs 15,000 Americans. As a leading partner in U.S. trade, CMA CGM transports over 5 million shipping containers to and from the country each year.
It’s unclear whether any of CMA CGM Group’s investments will be in shipbuilding.
See Related: ‘The Country Has Got a Big Light Over It Right Now’: Trump Tells Maria Bartiromo America Is Back
WATCH: JD Vance Serves Up Master Class in How to Deal With Angry Activists
Since 2000, the number of U.S. flag merchant ships has declined from 282 to 185. There are, as of January, 10 major shipyards in the United States that are actively building ships. In 1945, the United States Navy maintained 6,768 combat and support ships. That number in 2016 was 275. Today, it is 239. Granted, modern naval vessels have capacities far beyond those of 1945, but at some point, numbers matter, too.
I had an uncle and a great-uncle who served in the Pacific in World War 2. I don’t remember which of them said it, but I remember one of them quipping that in 1945, you could walk from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo by stepping from deck to deck.
The United States is a nation with a long, long maritime trade tradition. We are also the nation that has maintained a Pax Americana on the sea lanes of the world since 1945. For both of those things to continue – and we are being challenged, as a nation, on both fronts – we need ships. We need to build ships, both merchant vessels and naval vessels. This should be a priority, and with this deal and in his related statements, it looks like the Trump administration is determined to maintain the American presence on the world’s oceans.
Help RedState continue to tell the truth about the Trump administration’s accomplishments as we continue to usher in the Golden Era of America.
Become part of the RedState team! Join RedState’s VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership today.
