The U.S. Navy went looking for the mystery sailor behind one of President Donald Trump’s most expensive military demands and not only couldn’t find him, but couldn’t verify that he ever existed, The Wall Street Journal reported.
For years, Trump has referenced a mysterious sailor by the name of Bill Jones, a man he described as a Navy “catapulter” who, as paraphrased by the Journal, “loves the smell of steam.” It was Jones, Trump has said, who told him about the disadvantages of electromagnetic catapults used to launch planes.
Instead, the Navy should return to steam-powered launch systems, Jones purportedly told Trump, and in August, Trump instructed the Navy to revert to such systems, which some experts have called antiquated.
Citing unnamed defense officials, the Journal reported that Navy leaders had actually conducted a search for the mysterious Jones but turned up empty-handed.
“The incident sent Navy leaders searching for Jones to figure out what he said that prompted the president to demand an overhaul of one of the most expensive weapons programs in history,” the Journal’s Marcus Weisgerber wrote. “They never found him, according to defense officials. But they’re still dealing with the consequences of the mystery sailor and his chance encounter with the president.”
Bryan Clark, naval expert and senior fellow with the Hudson Institute, told the Journal it was “kind of crazy” that such a major overhaul of the U.S. military’s second-largest branch was triggered by a chance encounter with a lone sailor, a person who records — or lack thereof — suggest may not even exist.
“This could ultimately be a multibillion-dollar change that was resulting from largely this one sailor’s interaction with the president,” Clark said. “Which is kind of crazy when you think about the level of impact a single person had.”
A Navy spokesperson later confirmed to the Journal that it could not “accurately locate” Jones in its records.