Trump dismisses concerns over conditions on US aircraft carrier

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 in its ninth month at sea — had been deployed for too long. “No, no, no, not nearly enough,” he said.

The president meanwhile 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.

Democratic lawmakers are calling for probes into the situation.

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 shock second term in 2024 partly on his insistence that he would not involve the United States in so-called Mideast “forever wars” and the conflict has contributed to dragging down his poll numbers.

Among the more disturbing details emerging from the 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.

A US official denied that mental health was an issue.

“We have not observed an increase in suicidal ideations or attempts aboard the ship,” the official said, adding that the Abraham Lincoln has available five chaplains, one psychologist, one social workers, a “prevention coordinator” and a dog named CAPT Fathom “to support crew morale and emotional welfare.”

“Adapting to life at sea can be difficult, so we’ve learned how to provide resources and help Sailors with these transitions,” the official said.

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