Trump on Long-Suffering Sailors: “Not Nearly Long Enough”

Donald Trump’s war with Iran has been fought largely from the air, with U.S. warplanes dropping bombs and missiles on targets across the country. But those planes have to take off and land somewhere, and that somewhere has often been American aircraft carriers stationed off the coast. The war, which Trump said would last around four or five weeks but which is now going on six months, has taken a toll on those carriers and their crews. Conditions have reportedly gotten particularly dire aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln , which has been at sea since last year.

The Lincoln , normally based in San Diego, set sail in November for a routine deployment to the Pacific. But it got rerouted to the Middle East shortly before Trump attacked Iran, and has been there ever since. Besides defending against Iranian missile and drone attacks, the carrier’s roughly 5,000 sailors and other service members have complained of food rationing, water shortages, nonworking toilets, and moldy showers , as well as spotty access to mail, laundry, basic hygiene products, and the ability to communicate with their families. USA Today published a photo earlier this year of a sailor’s mostly empty lunch tray , which included a few chunks of boiled carrot and processed meat of an indeterminate nature.

That’s obviously gross and unpleasant. But is anything more serious happening?

Unfortunately, yes. The Lincoln ’s extended deployment, already about three months longer than the typical carrier mission, appears to have tanked sailors’ morale. The crew’s mental health is suffering, and some have apparently attempted suicide. In at least two instances, crew members reportedly tried to jump overboard . In another case last week, a sailor jumped off the ship and spent about an hour in the water before he was rescued and medically evacuated from the Lincoln . That sailor’s wife, who described her husband’s act as a suicide attempt to MS NOW, shared text messages in which he’d previously expressed feelings of hopelessness and said he’d gone to his superiors for help but was rebuffed.

That’s awful. How has the Trump administration responded to these reports?

They’ve largely denied them. Pete Hegseth, Trump’s truculent secretary of defense, called the reports “completely misrepresented,” adding that he has “more respect and gratitude for those sailors than anybody.” And despite published evidence to the contrary, Navy officials say they haven’t “identified an increase in reported suicidal ideation or suicide attempts aboard the ship,” even though they’re reportedly working to send more mental health professionals aboard.

That response has upset some whose loved ones serve on the Lincoln . According to MS NOW, a Navy official said during a town hall with about 200 family members in San Diego last week that it was unclear if the sailor who went overboard had jumped or simply fallen, angering attendees. Democrats in Congress, meanwhile, have pressed Hegseth and other Trump officials over the reports. Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona, a veteran of the Marines, wants a bipartisan delegation to visit the Lincoln .