The Record  Trump’s second term, documented
Governing by loyalty, and the human cost

His Iran war has kept a carrier’s crew at sea for nine months, and conditions grew so dire, food shortages, exhaustion, a mental-health crisis, that sailors tried to jump overboard. His defense secretary called the families’ warnings “fake news,” then the Pentagon pulled the ship.

August 13, 2026

The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln has been deployed to the Middle East since November 2025, its tour extended again and again to sustain Trump’s war with Iran, now in its ninth month. Military Times reported that conditions aboard, food shortages, exhaustion, and a mental-health crisis, grew so severe that multiple sailors tried to jump overboard and were stopped by shipmates. When families raised alarms in the spring, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dismissed them as “fake news.” In August, with military leaders privately warning the Pentagon and White House about morale, the Pentagon moved to replace the ship.

SourcesPentagon to replace the Lincoln amid morale and fatigue concerns (NBC News) · The Lincoln to be replaced; Hegseth had called warnings fake news (Newsweek) · Sailors have tried to jump overboard, per Military Times (The New Republic)

Named herePete Hegseth

His Iran war has kept a carrier’s crew at sea for nine months, and conditions grew so dire, food shortages, exhaustion, a mental-health crisis, that sailors tried to jump overboard. His defense secretary called the families’ warnings “fake news,” then the Pentagon pulled the ship.
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