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Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy. We need your help. More Info ### I would like to contribute One Time Monthly Yearly Join Now ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on May 17, 2017 in a U.S. Coast Guard commencement speech : \"I’m proud to say that under my administration, as you just heard, we will be building the first new heavy icebreakers the United States has seen in over 40 years.\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" half-true/6479cbc723379f0ee49c269b0b9790b7.jpg.\\") ![\\"half- true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") * National * Military * Donald Trump ![\\"The](\\" Laurent_and_Healy_in_the_Arctic_Ocean/1e362d4fd34f1611f28f11111bfd2718.jpg\\") The Canadian Coast Guard ship Louis S. St-Laurent makes an approach to the Coast Guard Cutter Healy in the Arctic Ocean, Sept. 5, 2009. (Coast Guard) By Smitha Rajan May 24, 2017 # Trump goes a bit overboard with icebreaker claim President Donald Trump told new graduates of the Coast Guard Academy that his administration is working hard to make the military branch’s job easier. In his speech at the academy’s commencement on May 17, Trump said his administration will be investing in icebreakers in a way the country hasn’t done in a while. \"I’m proud to say that under my administration, as you just heard, we will be building the first new heavy icebreakers the United States has seen in over 40 years,\" Trump said. Trump’s statement suggested his administration was the driver behind this project. He’s right about the four-decade gap, but it takes a long time to build a big ship (it’s just one -- not plural as he said) and the plan for this ship has been underway for some time. Assessing the fleet An icebreaker can carve a path through thick sheets of ice in frozen regions of the world or to access research stations in the Arctic. The bigger the ship, the thicker the ice it can handle. The United States has just one active heavy polar icebreaker, the Polar Star, which entered service in 1976. At a speed of 3 knots it can break through ice as thick as 21 feet. A similar ship was mothballed after its engined died in 2010 In addition to the Polar Star, the country has medium icebreaker, Healy, and the National Science Foundation operates a small icebreaker named Palmer. The construction of a new, heavy icebreaker would indeed be the first for the United States in four decades, said Magnus Nordenman, director of the Transatlantic Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council’s Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security. In the works for a few years Trump left out a key fact: The process of building a new heavy icebreaker for the Coast Guard began before he took office. The U.S. Coast Guard told us the work began in earnest during President Barack Obama’s second term. #### Featured Fact-check ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on September 11, 2024 in an Instagram post \"Debate moderators made the false claim to Donald Trump that there is nowhere in the United States where abortion is legal up until birth.\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" false/33efdb6633e5e2fdc2d4e2f63383a1e0.jpg.\\") ![\\"false\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") By Jeff Cercone • September 13, 2024 \"The time needed to build a new icebreaker can anywhere be between 5 to 10 years,\" said Sherri Goodman, a former defence official and senior fellow with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The Coast Guard included it in its 2012-13 budget submission, according to the Congressional Research Service. The project received about $15.6 million through FY 2016. In FY 2017, Congress gave the Coast Guard $25 million to manage the project and $150 million went to the Navy to start the design and construction process. Right now, actual building is slated to start in 2020 and if all goes well, the ship will launch in 2023. Our ruling Trump said, \"I’m proud to say that under my administration, as you just heard, we will be building the first new heavy icebreakers the United States has seen in over 40 years.\" He has a point that the heavy icebreaker being built is the first since the 1970s. If all goes according to schedule, construction will begin in 2020 with delivery in 2023. That puts the building phase within his first term, but as with any large project, the timeline can slip. Regardless, this has been an ongoing project that has been receiving funding from the government since 2013. Trump’s statement implied that the efforts to build the icebreaker came from his administration when in fact it was already in progress before he took office. We rate this claim Half True. Share the Facts 2017-05-24 14:08:50 UTC PolitiFact ![\\"PolitiFact\\"](\\" logo-big.jpg\\"/) 3 1 7 ![\\"PolitiFact](\\" facts/rating_images/politifact/tom-halftrue.jpg\\") PolitiFact Rating: Half True \"I’m proud to say that under my administration, as you just heard, we will be building the first new heavy icebreakers the United States has seen in over 40 years.\" Donald Trump President of the United States ![](\\" At the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn. Wednesday, May 17, 2017 2017-05-17 Read More info #### Read About Our Process The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter ### Our Sources White House, Remarks by President Trump at United States Coast Guard Academy Commencement Ceremony, May 17, 2017 Congressional Research Service, Coast Guard Polar Icebreaker Modernization: Background and Issues for Congress, May 12, 2017 Navy Times, Navy teams up with Coast Guard, July 14, 2016 High North News, US Coast Guard awards $20mn contract, March 9, 2017 Email interview, Magnus Nordenman, director, Transatlantic Security Initiative, Atlantic Council’s Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security, May 18, 2017. Email interview, Goodman, senior fellow, Woodrow Wilson International Center, May 18, 2017 Email interview, Department of Homeland Security, May 18, 2017 ## Browse the Truth-O-Meter ### More by Smitha Rajan ![](\\" Square-for-web/52caeda029d5fe29fc05a6519a45151f.jpg\\") ![](\\" Square-for-web/ccd4190f7267ed6a02aaef60fcb983cd.jpg\\") Karl Racine stated on June 12, 2017 in a press conference: \"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, whose government has important business and policy before the president of the United States, has already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars at the Trump International Hotel.\" ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Smitha Rajan • June 19, 2017 ![](\\" ![](\\" Bernie Sanders stated on May 25, 2017 in a tweet: Says President Donald \"Trump’s budget gives a $100 billion tax break to three of the wealthiest families.\" ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Smitha Rajan • May 31, 2017 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on May 17, 2017 in a U.S. Coast Guard commencement speech : \"I’m proud to say that under my administration, as you just heard, we will be building the first new heavy icebreakers the United States has seen in over 40 years.\" ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Smitha Rajan • May 24, 2017 ![](\\" ![](\\" James Rockall stated on May 9, 2017 in a tweet: \"More (people) die from indoor air pollution than from malaria, HIV/AIDS and TB combined.\" ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Smitha Rajan • May 18, 2017 ### Trump goes a bit overboard with icebreaker claim * ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on September 30, 2024 in a Threads post: Image shows a photo of former President Donald Trump wading through floodwater after Hurricane Helene. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • October 2, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on September 29, 2024 in a rally in Erie, PA: Kamala Harris \"let in the 13,099 convicted murderers and opposes all efforts to find them and to remove them.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Marta Campabadal Graus • October 2, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 25, 2024 in a Facebook post: “Georgia coach Kirby Smart\'s family ends relationship with Taylor Swift: ‘We do not support her endorsement.’” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • October 1, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on September 20, 2024 in a Facebook post: “TD Jakes MYSTERIOUSLY VANISHES: The search for the renowned bishop begins!” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • October 1, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" X posts stated on September 29, 2024 in X posts: A biolab caught fire in Georgia right before the 2024 election. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Sofia Ahmed • October 1, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on September 29, 2024 in a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania: Vice President Kamala Harris “even wants to legalize fentanyl.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Amy Sherman • October 1, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" House Majority PAC stated on September 9, 2024 in a television ad: Laurie Buckhout is “trying to get to Congress to pass a national abortion ban, allowing politicians to ban abortions with no exceptions and prosecute women if they get an abortion, treating women right here like criminals.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Paul Specht • October 1, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump Jr. stated on September 9, 2024 in a post: “Less than three months ago, Kamala Harris and her administration blocked 300,000 unvetted Haitian migrants from being deported out of our country.\" ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu • September 30, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" X posts stated on September 30, 2024 in an X post: Photo shows President Joe Biden lounging on the beach \"while towns all over America were being wiped out” by Hurricane Helene. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Samantha Putterman • September 30, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Social Media stated on September 30, 2024 in in social media posts: “Biden Announces: ‘2.4 billion more to Ukraine’ but ‘no more aid for Hurricane Helene.’” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Jeff Cercone • September 30, 2024 Load more ### Support independent fact-checking. 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I’m proud to say that under my administration as you just heard we will be building the first new heavy icebreakers the United States has seen in over 40 years