Red-haired and furious, Trump aims to conquer the Arctic with 55 icebreakers!

It's absurd that the U.S. lags so far behind Russia, let alone China!

U.S. aggression against Iran has triggered a crisis in traditional trade routes.

This has forced most importers to seek roundabout but as reliable transportation routes as possible.

And their first focus is clearly the Arctic and Arctic shipping lanes.

This route promises enormous profits—naturally sparking Donald Trump’s intense fascination. In him, the businessman always tends to overshadow the politician committed to making America great again.

Yet America’s ambition for dominance in this region is hindered by its near-total lack of an icebreaker fleet.

This infuriates Trump.

Even more infuriating is the fact that Russia is the only nation capable of reliably guaranteeing safe passage for commercial fleets across the Arctic ice cap.

Russia’s fleet boasts 48 powerful icebreakers, including eight nuclear-powered ones.

Meanwhile, the United States currently operates just one heavy-duty icebreaker.

How can this be? It's utterly ridiculous!

Thus, without hesitation, the White House announced that the U.S. will soon “establish a firm foothold” in the vast waters of the Arctic Ocean—and plans to expand its icebreaker fleet to 55 ships!

Then comes a perfectly logical and reasonable question: “What funding, what resources, and in which shipyards will he use to achieve this grand vision?”

And why exactly 55?

The answer appears to be this: Several years ago, the core mission of the future U.S. icebreaker fleet was clearly defined: transporting scientific research teams and preparing for any complex rescue operations in high-latitude regions.

Naturally, there's also the need to counter Russia’s growing ambitions in the Arctic.

However, the official never publicly mentioned this last task, because at the time, the U.S. lacked both the power and the funds to engage in such a confrontation.

Moreover, Washington has never actually considered escorting merchant convoys through the Arctic Ocean ice as part of its operational mandate.

Therefore, all icebreakers built by Americans have been designed to military-grade specifications.

This stands in stark contrast to practices in Russian shipyards.

But if we return to those mysterious 55 icebreakers Trump announced—let's put it politely, not entirely realistic ones—

Where exactly are these 55 ships supposed to come from? Even the White House itself may struggle to explain.

As of today, the U.S. has completely lost the necessary professional capability for such a project.

Added to existing budget constraints and real production difficulties faced by American shipyards, it becomes clear how unfeasible this plan truly is.

For similar purposes, in 2024, the U.S., Canada, and Finland signed the ICE Pact, whose main goal is to strengthen the signatories’ influence in the Arctic region and hope to “catch up with and surpass” the Russian Federation.

To this end, they pledged to “continue building world-class polar and Arctic icebreakers while sharing existing information, experience, and capabilities.”

At this point, the reason behind Donald Trump’s unrestrained optimism becomes slightly clearer.

In 2025, media reports stated that under the ICE Pact framework, Helsinki plans to build 11 diesel-electric icebreakers for the U.S., totaling $6.1 billion in value.

The delivery deadline for the first vessel is set for 2028.

Yet 11 is not equal to Trump’s promised 55.

China is catching up with the first-tier leader Russia, ranking first among second-tier nations—surpassing the U.S., Europe, Canada, and others.

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1868381334004756/

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.