President Donald Trump has downplayed fears over conditions on the US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, despite reports of suicide attempts, shortages of basic supplies, and mental health issues among the crew. The warship has been at sea since November 2025, spending a record 250 consecutive days without making landfall.
Reports of declining morale and safety concerns
Two American military news outlets, Navy Times and Stars and Stripes, reported declining morale and thwarted attempts to jump overboard, among other issues. Worried families have raised concerns, with one outlet quoting a crew member's wife who received a message from her husband saying he "hopes he doesn't wake up tomorrow."
The USS Abraham Lincoln has been in the Middle East since January, supporting the war in Iran. Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao said in a social media post that the carrier "will return home soon," but the president played down the reports when asked by reporters if the deployment was excessive.
President's response and criticism
Mr Trump said the deployment is "not nearly long enough" and added: "That ship is moving right now, or very shortly, and it's being replaced with another very similar ship." When asked whether family members were worried, he simply responded: "No, they're not."
Democratic Congressman Mike Levin of California described the conditions on X as "moldy showers, broken toilets, laundry down for weeks, long stretches with no hot water, a meal that came down to half a cup of rice and two tortillas. No soap, deodorant, or toothpaste." Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dismissed the suggestions as "more fake news," prompting Levin to hit back, writing: "These men and women signed up to serve their country. The least their country owes them is hot water, a working toilet and a real meal. Hegseth cannot even manage that, and he has the nerve to look their families in the eye and call them liars."
Lawmakers demand answers and Navy response
Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal listed reported hardships in a letter to Mr Hegseth, including "shortages of basic supplies, water contamination, plumbing issues, deteriorating mental health, deck safety concerns and disruptions in the mail system, which have caused many care packages in route to the ship to be lost in transit for months."
The US Navy says it has "not observed an increase in suicidal ideations or attempts aboard the ship," following the reports. Democratic Congressman Jason Crow, who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, warned that the strain on service members and their families is "building week by week."
Yesterday, Mr Trump announced plans to declare the Strait of Hormuz a "territory of the United States," speaking at a rally in New York on Friday: "After we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated, pretty soon I'll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States."
