WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump will address service members aboard an aircraft carrier in Virginia on Thursday afternoon in an event highlighting his promises earlier this week to rebuild the military and strengthen national defense.



The event, scheduled for 2 p.m., will take place in the Newport News Shipyard on the Gerald R. Ford, a next-generation carrier scheduled to be delivered to the Navy later this year. White House spokesman Sean Spicer on Wednesday said the speech will be delivered to a crowd of shipbuilders and sailors involved in the carrier's planned operations.





The venue will serve as a backdrop for Trump's repeated pledge to "rebuild" the military's naval fleet, with a goal of 350 ships in coming years.



White House officials have said rebuilding military might will take years of funding increases, largely given the lengthy procurement process for military equipment.

Trump has also repeatedly promised to do a better job negotiating defense contracts, to save taxpayer money. That makes the new aircraft carrier a potentially potent — or problematic — choice for Thursday’s speech.

The $12.9 billion ship, built at Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc., has faced numerous delays and criticism over the course of its construction. Last summer, two of Ford's electricity-generating main turbines suffered mechanical problems, resulting in another delivery delay. The carrier was originally scheduled to be completed in 2014.

Along with the Navy build up, Trump has said he wants to add more than 60,000 soldiers to the Army’s active-duty ranks and 12,000 more Marines to serve in infantry and tank battalions. He also has plans to add at least another 100 combat aircraft for the Air Force.

Trump has not specified how that military build-up will be paid for, other than his public pledges to cut waste and fraud in federal programming.

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Leo Shane III covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He can be reached at lshane@militarytimes.com.