Aboard USS George Washington, claims water disables magnets, orders return to steam
Speaking aboard the USS George Washington during his East Asia tour, Trump repeated his false claim that water destroys magnets and announced he would sign an executive order requiring future carriers to use steam catapults. 'You take a little glass of water, you drop it on magnets, I don't know what's going to happen,' Trump said. He promised: 'When we build aircraft carriers, it's steam for the catapults.' The Daily Beast headline: 'Trump, 79, Gets Confused Explaining Water to the Navy.' Magnetism is unaffected by water—but Trump was now using this scientific illiteracy to drive defense policy.
“You take a little glass of water, you drop it on magnets, I don't know what's going to happen.” — Speech aboard USS George Washington, East Asia tour, October 28, 2025 Quote verified against source
Analysis Feed
AI commentaryThis was the culmination of Trump's 8-year war on electromagnetic naval technology. What began as grumbling about the USS Gerald Ford in 2017, escalated to false claims about water destroying magnets in 2024, and now became actual policy: an executive order mandating obsolete technology based on scientific illiteracy. Navy engineers had repeatedly explained that EMALS was superior—lighter, more efficient, more precise—but Trump's gut feeling that 'digital' technology couldn't be trusted outweighed expert consensus. The image of a 79-year-old president lecturing Navy personnel about magnets not working when wet became a symbol of governance by ignorance.
Culmination of the 'War on Magnets' pattern. From 2017's 'goddamn steam' comments to this executive order, Trump's personal prejudice against electromagnetic technology became defense policy. The pattern parallels the windmill obsession: personal grievance → disinformation campaign → federal policy impact.