President Donald Trump is facing sharp criticism from the wife of a sailor serving aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, who described conditions on the aircraft carrier as “appalling” and likened life on the vessel to a “floating metal prison,” amid reports that some sailors have tried to throw themselves overboard.
The woman, who has not been identified, said her husband told her the carrier’s current Middle East deployment has been “the worst deployment he’s ever been on.”
“This is not his first deployment. This is not his first time being out there, and he is saying that it is the worst deployment that he’s ever been on. And he also says that his shipmates say the same,” she told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Friday.
Her account came after Trump pushed back on allegations that deteriorating conditions aboard the ship have contributed to collapsing morale and suicidal thoughts among service members.
When asked about concerns raised by military families over conditions on the carrier, the president dismissed the premise outright, saying: “Well, no, that ship is moving. No, they’re not.”
“That ship is moving right now, or very shortly, and it’s being replaced with another very similar ship,” Trump continued. The USS George Washington is now heading to the Middle East to relieve the Lincoln, in a rotation officials say had already been scheduled.
Pressed on whether the deployment had stretched on too long, Trump responded: “No. Not nearly long enough.”
The comments follow the deployment of roughly 5,000 service members from San Diego last November, when the carrier was redirected to support the war with Iran.
The wife of a sailor aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln said that her husband described the experience as ‘the worst deployment he’s ever been on’ following Donald Trump’s dismissive response to concerns over the ‘appalling’ conditions onboard
The Lincoln and its more than 5,000 sailors and Marines have spent over 250 days at sea
However, since the beginning of the conflict, reports have surfaced of food shortages and rationing aboard the Lincoln, accompanied by photographs of sailors’ meals.
‘It’s not just the quality; it’s the quantity,’ the sailor’s wife told the outlet. ‘It’s the rationing. The portions are awful, so it’s really not good.’
Remaining anonymous out of fear of retaliation against her husband, the woman added that her spouse, who she said is typically unaffected by work stressors, ‘feels himself being angrier and more frustrated.’
‘You’re stuck in a floating metal prison, essentially, in the middle of the water, eating prison-like food with the same people in the same bunk beds in the same small quarters for 200 days, 250 days, you start to go a little insane working 12 hours, getting four or five hours of sleep,’ she continued.
Outraged at Trump’s response to reports of the conditions, she slammed the president, saying: ‘I don’t think the man thinks before he talks.’
‘Have some sympathy, some empathy. Take some accountability for what’s going on with your military, your ships, in your war,’ she pleaded.
‘It’s infuriating… essentially saying that families are lying and servicemembers are lying.’
Other anxious family members also vented their anger to Navy leaders in San Diego last Thursday, according to Stars and Stripes.
Since the start of Trump’s war, reports have surfaced of food shortages and rationing aboard the Lincoln, accompanied by grim images of sailors’ meals. These photos leaked earlier this year
On August 3, a sailor assigned to the carrier’s air wing went into rough seas wearing a life vest in what the Navy deemed a mental health episode and was pulled from the water by a search and rescue helicopter within the hour
One spouse reportedly said conditions aboard were so bad that her husband texted her saying, ‘he hopes he doesn’t wake up tomorrow.’
Another woman accused naval officials of breaking the ‘trust between us and the leadership’ by failing to be more transparent about their loved ones’ living conditions.
On August 3, a sailor assigned to the carrier’s air wing went into rough seas wearing a life vest in what the Navy deemed a mental health episode, CNN reported.
He was pulled from the water by a search and rescue helicopter within the hour.
Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal and other lawmakers are demanding answers from Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth.
Yet, the defense secretary also refuted claims of the bad conditions onboard the ship and said they were ‘completely misrepresented.’
‘Listen, we make sure that every ship, every crew, every captain has everything we can provide them at every single moment,’ Hegseth told Newsmax on Thursday.
However, the sailor’s wife continued to tell CNN that the accounts are ‘not fabricated.’
‘Nobody is lying,’ she added. ‘They claim to scream and shout that they support [our servicemembers] when it’s politically sound for them… “support our troops, support our troops,” until our troops need support.’
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also refuted claims of the bad conditions onboard the ship and said they were ‘completely misinterpreted’
Amid the allegations, the wife of the sailor who jumped off the aircraft carrier told MS Now that she was kept in the dark about what happened.
She said her husband was in the water for an hour before he was rescued from what she described as a suicide attempt.
‘I think that it was handled very poorly because they didn’t inform me and they didn’t want me to know, and they’re just trying to cover this up,’ she said.
She shared her last text with her husband on July 21, in which he said life on the ship was getting to him.
‘I’m really trying to not feel negative or hopeless but between the Wi-Fi and not knowing when I will come home and not knowing what is happening back at home, it’s really getting me,’ he wrote in the message, noting that he had been due to leave on July 15 but the plan was canceled.
‘I don’t think I can do another deployment after this and i don’t even know if I can finish this deployment,’ the sailor added.
Hung Cao, the acting secretary of the Navy, said in a statement on Friday that the USS Lincoln would be returning home soon ‘as part of a planned rotation.’
‘The safety and security of our Sailors and Marines always comes first,’ the statement said.
Hung Cao, the acting secretary of the Navy, said in a statement on Friday that the USS Lincoln would be returning home soon ‘as part of a planned rotation’
Cao also waved off concerns, championing that leaders ‘are taking care of their people’ and that ‘the safety and security of our Sailors and Marines always comes first’
‘Mission accomplishment. Troop Welfare. This is how we lead. The Lincoln was extended because the mission demanded it. Deployments are hard. Combat operations make them harder. War is hell and normal routines are disrupted.’
Cao went on to say that ‘the job is getting done and our leaders are taking care of their people.’
‘Unfortunately, the media are trying to paint our warriors as victims… There is no question our young men and women have been pushed to their limits – but they have never broken. They are rightly tired – but have never been out of the fight. However, it is clear, knowing the whole story, our force and their families are not victims. They are the epitome of American strength and resilience.’
The Daily Mail has approached the White House and the Navy for comment.
