Demands Navy use 'goddamn steam' catapults instead of electromagnetic launchers
In an interview with Time magazine, Trump criticized the Navy's new electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS) on the USS Gerald Ford, demanding they 'go back to goddamn steam' catapults. He claimed 'the digital costs hundreds of millions of dollars more money, and it's no good.' The $13 billion carrier had been under development for over a decade, and EMALS offered significant advantages: lighter weight, more energy efficiency, and 30% more power per launch. Navy officials scrambled after Trump's comments, as reverting to steam would require designing an entirely new system—the Mk 13 steam catapults were no longer in production. Trump's comments demonstrated his pattern of confidently opining on complex technology he didn't understand, imposing personal prejudices on military procurement.
“I said you don't use steam anymore for catapult? No sir. I said, 'Ah, how is it working?' 'Sir, not good.'” — Time magazine interview, May 11, 2017 Quote verified against source
Analysis Feed
AI commentaryThis was the first major instance of Trump's anti-electromagnetic technology crusade that would later metastasize into bizarre claims about magnets being destroyed by water. His confident assertion that steam was superior showed his pattern of rejecting expert consensus based on gut instinct. The Navy never implemented his demand, but his hostility to EMALS persisted throughout his first term and into his second.
Origin point of the 'War on Magnets' pattern. Trump's hostility to electromagnetic technology began here and evolved into increasingly unhinged claims about magnets and water over subsequent years.