What the...what??

On Tuesday, Trump and first lady Melania Trump went aboard a Japanese destroyer to visit Japanese troops and then made a visit to the USS Wasp docked at the mouth of Tokyo Bay. Aboard the USS Wasp, Trump gave a Memorial Day speech to hundreds of members of the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet.

Trump spoke while aboard the ship and offered his thoughts on aircraft carrier design. "You know, they were saying — one of the folks said, 'No, the electric works faster. But, sir, we can only get the plane there every couple of minutes,'" Trump said according to a White House transcript. "So, really, what they did was wrong."

"I think I’m going to put an order," the president continued. "When we build a new aircraft carrier, we’re going to use steam. I’m going to just put out an order: We’re going to use steam. We don’t need — we don’t need that extra speed."

“Steam’s only worked for about 65 years perfectly,” Trump continued.

“And I won’t tell you this because it’s before my time by a little bit, but they have a $900 million cost overrun on this crazy electric catapult," Trump said.

  Haaretz

Surely this is "fake news." 

President Donald Trump is ratcheting up the pressure on the Navy to return to the days of steam-powered catapults for launching jets from aircraft carriers — a multibillion-dollar shift that could take nearly two decades to achieve and would likely spur a clash with Congress.

  Politico

We hope.

Trump has spent two years criticizing the Navy's decision to switch to an electromagnetic launch system for its newest class of aircraft carriers, citing delays in rolling out the technology and complaining that “you have to be Albert Einstein to figure it out.” But he kicked his old-tech obsession up a notch during his visit to Japan, telling U.S. service members he plans to order the Navy to outfit all its new carriers with steam catapults.

"So I think I’m going to put an order: When we build a new aircraft carrier, we’re going to use steam,” Trump told sailors and Marines aboard the amphibious assault shift USS Wasp at a Navy base south of Tokyo, speaking late Monday night U.S. Eastern time. He renewed his complaint that the new technology could be unreliable during battle. “We’re spending all that money on electric, and nobody knows what it’s going to be like in bad conditions.”

[...]

The Navy opted not to comment on Trump’s latest remarks, instead referring all questions to the White House.

As you would.

The White House, in turn, did not respond to questions on whether Trump will formally order the Navy to abandon its new Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System.

As you wouldn't.

“No one is seriously talking about swapping EMALS with steam catapults — not even the U.S. Navy, which has studied EMALS extensively and believes EMALS has significant advantages over steam," said Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), using the Navy acronym for the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System. "Overhauling the Ford-class carriers for steam catapults would require a complete redesign of the Ford and the reconstitution of the industrial base for steam catapults, creating significant delays and cost overruns.

"This is not a feasible proposal, and I don’t anticipate Congress going along with this proposal and providing the funding to revert and refit the Ford class.”

Trump has sought sailors' views on the system before. On the Wasp, which does not use catapults of either type, Trump asked the crew which type of catapult they prefer.

Surely they're the people to ask.

He was met mostly with shouts of "steam," and joked that one crew member who shouted in favor of the electric system "works for the enemy."

And, don't forget, he knows more about everything than everybody.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.