U.S. President Donald Trump will announce a new type of large warships called “battleships” this afternoon, December 22, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the discussions, as reported in a Wall Street Journal exclusive cited in X posts by Lara Seligman and OrlvndoA between 5:16 p.m. and 6:16 p.m. UTC. The announcement marks a step toward Trump's vision for a new “Golden Fleet,” according to the officials cited by the Journal. Seligman referenced the WSJ article at https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/trump-hegseth-new-warship-the-battleship-63367854 in her post during the reporting window. Separate updates emerged on the sanctioned tanker M/T Bella 1, pursued by the U.S. in recent days. The vessel transmitted repeated distress alerts from position 19.02 N, 57.23 W at approximately 11 knots, according to an X post by @Hugotips over the past hour. TankerTrackers reported 38 hours ago visually identifying the empty VLCC supertanker approaching Venezuela after crossing two oceans with AIS switched off, under U.S. OFAC sanctions for Iranian oil transfers, labeling it part of the “Dark Fleet” in an X post cited by Josh Cheetham. The Bella 1's AIS signal was last detected four days ago northeast of Antigua and Barbuda, en route empty from Iran to Curacao, per TankerTrackers as cited by Cheetham. This follows U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's statement at 4:26 p.m. UTC on December 22 that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro "has to go," amid pursuits of Venezuelan-linked vessels including Bella 1, confirmed by a U.S. official to NewsNation earlier today.
