Sen.Tim Sheehy warned that a crisis in American shipbuilding has left the United States dangerously outpaced by an aggressively expanding Chinese fleet.Speaking on "The Fox News Rundown" podcast, the former Navy SEAL said China is now constructing ships much faster than the U.S., creating a national security problem."Our Navy right now is not where it needs to be," Sheehy told Fox News’ Aishah Hasnie.CHINA DEPLOYED OVER 100 VESSELS NEAR TAIWAN IN THE WAKE OF TRUMP-XI SUMMIT, TAIWAN SECURITY OFFICIAL CLAIMSPresident Donald Trump took questions from reporters after announcing the creation of the "Trump-class" battleship during remarks at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Dec.
22, 2025, in Palm Beach, Florida.(Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)"Right now, our fleet, when you compare us to China, they build ships 230 times faster than we do.
Their shipyards can turn around repairs 90% faster than we can," he later added.Sheehy blamed the slowdown on the country becoming complacent during a prolonged period of peace, arguing the U.S.wasn't prepared for future conflicts.
He warned that while a depleted Army can be fixed in just one to two years, rebuilding the Navy's industrial base is a much deeper, longer-term problem."We've allowed our shipbuilding industry to atrophy over the past 30 years to a point that's really quite scary because we felt the peace dividend was permanent, Pax Americana was here to stay, and we felt we don't need these big expensive ships anymore," he said.SAILORS INJURED AFTER FIRE BREAKS OUT ON AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS EISENHOWER DURING SHIPYARD MAINTENANCESen.Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., was seen during a series of Senate votes at the U.S.
Capitol on June 17, 2026, in Washington, D.C.(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)Sheehy said rebuilding the Army could take one to two years and the Air Force up to five years.
But he argued the skills needed for shipbuilding are far more difficult to restore, adding that America hasn't built ships in a "meaningful w...