Donald Trump promises '12-carrier Navy' as he touts massive military buildup aboard new nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and pledges that America's enemies will be 'in big, big trouble'

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Donald Trump stood aboard America's newest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier on Thursday and declared that it's only a down payment on a future 'great rebuilding of the United States military.'

Calling his plan 'a major expansion' of U.S. military might, he said it includes 'having the 12-carrier Navy we need.'

America's fleet of aircraft carriers is presently two short of that number, comprised of older 'Nimitz-class' vessels. Adding just one more after the Ford would get Trump to an even dozen.

The president praised the builders of the USS Gerald R. Ford and promised that 'we're going to soon have more coming.'

'We're going to have the finest equipment in the world. Planes, ships and everything else,' he pledged.

He said a renewed emphasis on building up the U.S. military 'to prevent war, and if necessary to fight war.'

And in a campaign-style flourish, he said he meant to do 'only one thing' if the U.S. has to fight.

'You know what that is?' he asked. 'Win!' came a shouted reply that echoed to the water.

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President Donald Trump promised a massive new military building on Thursday, speaking below deck on the USS Gerald R. Ford

And in a campaign-style flourish, he said he meant to do 'only one thing' if the U.S. has to fight. 'You know what that is?' he asked. 'Win!' came a shouted reply that echoed to the water

The president sported a new flight jacket and cap as he toured America's newest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier

The president praised the builders of the USS Gerald R. Ford on Thursday and promised that 'we're going to soon have more coming' 

Trump descended below the deck on an aircraft elevator, appearing next to a helicopter in a dramatic campaign rally-style moment

The effect of Trump's entrance was magician-like as a wall suddenly opened up and Trump descended on a huge platform while 'God Bless the U.S.A.' played

Trump vowed that any nation who dared to challenge his Pentagon's power would be 'in big, big trouble' and that he would deliver 'more aircraft' and 'modernized capabilities.'

Wearing a flight jacket with a 'commander in chief' patch and an admiral's cap bearing the letters 'POTUS' on the back, the president made a dramatic rally-style entrance for the ages.

As 3,000 sailors and shipbuilders heard 'Hail to the Chief' echo off the walls of a below-deck hangar bay, an aircraft elevator descended in seconds – revealing a helicopter, the president, and former first daughter Susan Ford Bales.

'God Bless the U.S.A.' played. And Trump boasted that the Ford is 'four and a half acres of combat power and sovereign U.S. territory' for which 'there is no competition.'

'You stand on that deck – you feel like you're standing on a very big piece of land!' he said, calling the ship 'a place.'

'But this is better than land,' he said.

Thousands were gathered to see Trump on Thursday. 'You stand on that deck – you feel like you're standing on a very big piece of land!' he said, calling the ship 'a place'

Trump's flight jacket bore a 'Commander in Chief' patch, and his hat bears the initials 'POTUS' on the rear velcro strap

President Donald Trump visited the nuclear aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford at Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Virginia on Thursday, meeting with sailors and shipbuilders – and the late Gerald Ford's daughter Susan Ford Bales (right) before delivering a speech

Navy and shipyard personnel photographed Trump from a giant video screen as he arrived aboard the nuclear aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford on Thursday

Leaving his red 'USA' cap behind, Trump said that 'this is a special day. We're wearing this. I have no idea how it looks, but I think it looks good!'

Trump's Marine Corps pilots landed his presidential helicopter aboard the Ford on Thursday afternoon, marking his first visit aboard a naval vessel since becoming president.

The atmosphere was one of controlled campaign chaos as the president stepped onto the enormous deck wearing his red cap while Free's classic rock tune 'All Right Now' blasted down below in Hangar Bay #2.

About 3,000 sailors and shipbuilders awaited him, cheering as giant video screens showed him saluting and dodging gusts of wind. 

The playlist returned to Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones, played at an ear-splitting volume. Save for the missing 'Crooked Hillary' campaign signs, the welcome could have been a prelude to any of the hundreds of campaign events that propelled Trump to the White House.

The president emerged from his regular chopper after a trio of tilt-rotor V-22 'osprey' aircraft touched down on the flight deck.

Leaving his red 'USA' cap behind, Trump said that 'this is a special day. We're wearing this. I have no idea how it looks, but I think it looks good!'

A few thousand people gathered in an aircraft hangar below deck; the Ford is still under construction is due to be delivered to the Navy later this year

President Donald Trump spoke Thursday aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford, a new nuclear-powered aircraft carrier (shown during its 2013 christening ceremony)

Susan Ford Bales introduced Trump, saying that 'very soon 100,000 tons of the most powerful warship ever known will report for duty to her commander-in-chief'

He is in coastal Virginia to make the case for a major buildup of the nation's military, beginning a trend that will add 80 new ships to the U.S. Navy's current complement of about 270.

The Ford is a $12.9 billion aircraft carrier that is expected to be commissioned this year after cost overruns and delays. He met with the carrier's builders and a complement of sailors before speaking to a sea of humanity gathered to see the commander-in-chief in action.

A draft budget plan released earlier this week by the White House would add $54 billion to the Pentagon's projected budget, a 10 percent increase. 

'To keep America safe, we must provide the men and women of the United States military with the tools they need to prevent war – if they must – they have to fight and they only have to win,' Trump said in his address to Congress on Tuesday night. 

'I am sending Congress a budget that rebuilds the military, eliminates the defense sequester and calls for one of the largest increases in national defense spending in American history.' 

A few thousand sailors and shipbuilding workers gathered in the cavernous below-deck Hangar Bay No. 2 to await the president's arrival.

Naval personnel wore their working uniforms. Builders wore hard hats – white for men and a few pink ones for women.

Susan Ford Bales, the late President Ford's only daughter, introduced Trump.

'Very soon,' she said, '100,000 tons of the most powerful warship ever known will report for duty to her commander-in-chief.' 

'To keep America safe, we must provide the men and women of the United States military with the tools they need to prevent war – if they must – they have to fight and they only have to win,' Trump said in his address to Congress on Tuesday night

Sailors aboard the Ford hooted and hollered when they thought Trump was landing on deck in a V-22 osprey aircraft, but he hadn't yet left the Oval Office en route to Newport News, Virginia

A giant video screen showed an osprey landing on-deck more than a half-hour before Trump was to arrive.

Bells tolled and a collective hoot rang out – for 5 seconds, until the video operator cut the camera feed.

Thinking Trump was aboard, the sailors booed until the osprey returned to the screen. 

The president hadn't at that point left the White House yet, according to pool reports.

He traveled to Newport News with Defense Secretary Gen. James Mattis and assorted White House aides. 

The president was photographed on the blustery Thursday afternoon boarding Air Force One as gusts of wind sent his Trump-branded necktie fluttering. The short end of the tie was scotch-taped to the long end, as Trump has been known to do.

Trump, flanked by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan,hosted a meeting with House and Senate leadership on Wednesday; He will need their help to pass legislation freeing up new defense spending

The USS Gerald R. Ford  is a $12.9 billion vessel, the first of the Navy's next generation of aircraft carriers

The Gerald R. Ford, a 100,000-ton behemoth that will house more than 4,600 sailors after its test runs this spring, boasts a high-tech electromagnetic catapult that engineers say will operate fast enough to allow the Navy to launch 25 per cent more more flying missions than existing Nimitz Class carriers.

But last year a leaked Pentagon memo revealed that the Ford's builders were having trouble launching and recovering planes, as well as conducting air-traffic control, running self-defense protocols and moving munitions around the vessel.

'Unless these issues are resolved ... they will significantly limit CVN-78's ability to conduct combat operations,' a Pentagon official wrote then, referring to the Ford's official military designation.

Republican Sen. John McCain, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, said at the time that delays in the Ford's construction and delivery were 'unacceptable.'

McCain said the Ford-class carrier program was a 'case study in why our acquisition system must be reformed – unrealistic business cases, poor cost estimates, new systems rushed to production, concurrent design and construction, and problems testing systems to demonstrate promised capability.'

Trump brand with scotch-tape: The president's tie fluttered in the wind as he boarded Air Force One on Thursday

Trump, in his 2016 campaign, repeatedly pledged to rebuild what he called the nation's 'depleted' military and told supporters at Regent University in Virginia Beach in October that the region's naval installations would be 'right at the center of the action with the building of new ships.'

He often argued that the U.S. military was too small to accomplish its missions and pledged to put the Navy on track to increase its active-duty fleet to 350 ships, compared to the current Navy plan of growing from 272 ships to 308 sometime after 2020.

Trump's speech to a joint session of Congress, his first as president, included his past calls for repealing the 'defense sequester,' or across-the-board budget cuts instituted by Congress. 

He will need the repeal to achieve the kinds of increased defense spending that he is seeking. 

President Gerald Ford served in the U.S. Navy during World War II aboard the USS Monterey, a light aircraft carrier. He reached the rank of lieutenant commander.