(AFP) – President Donald Trump dismissed concerns Friday over living conditions and the mental health of service members on a US aircraft carrier deployed against Iran, while confirming the ship would soon rotate out.
Asked by reporters whether family members were worried about the situation on the USS Abraham Lincoln, Trump said “no, they’re not.” Trump also rejected the idea that the ship — now at sea for nine months — had been deployed for too long. “No, no, no, not nearly enough,” he said.
The president confirmed reports that the ship was due to be swapped out with another aircraft carrier, as the United States remains locked in a stalemate with Iran over control of the Strait of Hormuz and the country’s nuclear program. “That ship is moving right now or very shortly and it’s being replaced with another very similar ship,” Trump said.
US media, including specialist military publications, have quoted multiple relatives of crew members saying living conditions have deteriorated on the Lincoln. There have also been reports of several suicide attempts. “A small number of mental health cases were treated with no loss of life,” acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao said in a statement, blaming the media for “trying to paint our warriors as victims.” Democratic lawmakers are calling for an investigation.
The massive nuclear-powered ship departed California in November 2025 for duty in the South China Sea and was rerouted to the Middle East before US-Israeli attacks on Iran that began February 28. Jonathan Schroden, chief research officer at the Center for Naval Analyses, told AFP that carrier strike groups are generally designed for six-month deployments for reasons including sailor welfare.
Media coverage of the families’ complaints creates an unwelcome new front for Trump in his attempt to sell the already unpopular war. The Republican won a second term in 2024 partly on his insistence that he would not involve the United States in so-called Mideast “forever wars.” The Iran conflict has contributed to dragging down his poll numbers.
Among details emerging from accounts by sailors’ families was that two sailors had tried to jump overboard. The US military has said that one sailor who fell into the sea on August 3 was recovered. The ship has five chaplains, one psychologist, one social worker, a “prevention coordinator,” and a dog named Captain Fathom to support crew morale and welfare. “The Lincoln was extended because the mission demanded it,” Cao said. “Our success depends on how we adapt.”
© 2024 AFP
