Donald Trump dismisses concerns about conditions on US aircraft carrier

Donald Trump has downplayed the impact on American sailors who have spent nearly nine months at sea on the USS Abraham Lincoln.

It comes after two US military news outlets, Navy Times and Stars and Stripes, reported suicide attempts and declining morale on the 5,000-strong aircraft carrier, which has been at sea since November 2025 and has been in the Middle East since January, supporting the war in Iran.

Speaking to reporters before an event in New York, the US president dismissed concerns family members have raised about the deployment's length, which has surpassed 240 days.

Mr Trump followed up by saying the deployment is "not nearly long enough" when asked if it was excessive.

"That ship is moving right now, or very shortly, and it's being replaced with another very similar ship," he said.

Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao said the aircraft carrier "will return home soon" in a social media post.

Later at the event, Mr Trump acknowledged he's used the military "a little bit more than I wanted to", while reassuring the crowd that the war is going well.

He also mentioned, seemingly in jest, that he'll be declaring the embattled Strait of Hormuz a "territory of the United States".

The extended deployments of carriers during the war have raised concerns about the impact on service members away from home for long periods, as well as the increasing strain on the ships and their equipment.

Naval deployments are typically between six and nine months, but can be extended in times of conflict.

Democratic lawmakers have called for a Pentagon briefing regarding the conditions on the USS Abraham Lincoln, which defence secretary Pete Hegseth has dismissed as "completely misrepresented".

Representative Jason Crow criticised the president's comments, saying: "President Trump does not care about our service members or their families."

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Senator Richard Blumenthal has written to Mr Hegseth and Mr Cao over reports of shortages of basic supplies, water contamination, plumbing issues, mental health issues, deck safety concerns, and disruptions in the Navy's mail system.

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have also requested a classified briefing on the ship's food inventory, sanitation issues and healthcare availability, as well as an assessment of how much longer it would be deployed before relief arrives.

The Republican chairmen of the House and Senate armed services committees are yet to comment on the situation.

The USS Abraham Lincoln is one of two aircraft carriers currently deployed in the Middle East, and is expected to be replaced by the USS George Washington, which left port in Vietnam last week.

The US Navy says it has "not observed an increase in suicidal ideations or attempts aboard the ship", after reports emerged that sailors on the carrier are struggling with mental health.

Officials declined to provide data, citing operational security and patient privacy concerns.

A navy official said a sailor on the USS Abraham Lincoln went overboard earlier this month, but was quickly recovered, treated by the ship's medical department and transferred off ship for follow-on care.

The official would not say if the incident was being considered a suicide attempt.

US Central Command, which is overseeing military operations in the Middle East, has also pushed back on reports about the conditions onboard the carrier.

(c) Sky News 2026: Donald Trump dismisses concerns about conditions on US aircraft carrier