President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit the Newport News Shipbuilding yard in Newport News, Virginia, on Thursday, according to the Virginia Pilot.

The president will speak on the deck of the USS Gerald R. Ford, the namesake and first Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier. The ship is scheduled to be commissioned later this year.

Trump's visit to America's largest military shipbuilding company comes in the wake of his proposed $54 billion increase in defense spending. Huntington Ingalls Industries, the owner of the shipbuilding yard, is the largest industrial employer in Virginia.

Newport News Shipbuilding is the sole designer and builder of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers for the Navy. It is also one of two shipbuilding yards owned by Huntington Ingalls Industries that build the Navy's nuclear-powered submarines, according to Defense One.

The Navy currently stands with 275 ships and plans to reach 308. Trump has proposed an increase to a fleet of 350 ships, while an assessment from the Navy has called for 355 ships. Huntington Ingalls Industries and its Newport News Shipbuilding yard stand to gain a significant number of shipbuilding contracts from the Navy if the fleet size increases.  


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