Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth rejected reports of deteriorating conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln on Thursday, even as the carrier’s roughly 5,000 sailors remain on a deployment stretching beyond 250 days amid U.S. operations against Iran.
Hegseth Rejects Reports Of Poor Conditions
The Lincoln left San Diego on Nov. 21, 2025, and has gone more than 200 days without a port call, according to Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). The carrier was initially expected home in May but has no publicly announced return date.
Hegseth, speaking to Newsmax on Thursday, called accounts of poor conditions “completely misrepresented.”
“We make sure every ship, every crew, every captain has everything we can provide them at every single moment,” he said, adding that sailors in “austere conditions with less port calls” were doing “incredible” work.
Lawmakers Raise Alarm Over Sailor Welfare
The comments followed reports that families told Navy leaders several sailors had attempted to jump overboard or were stopped from doing so. The Navy said it had not identified an increase in reported suicidal ideation or suicide attempts aboard the ship.
Blumenthal, in a letter on Wednesday, asked Hegseth and acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao to address reports of supply shortages, contaminated water, plumbing failures, mail disruptions and worsening mental health. He warned long carrier deployments may be becoming “a feature rather than an exception.”
Iran Mission Extends Lincoln’s Time At Sea
The Lincoln originally deployed to the Indo-Pacific before Washington redirected it toward the Middle East in January as tensions with Tehran surged. Trump described the carrier-led force as a “massive Armada”. In February, an F-35C from the Lincoln shot down an Iranian drone that the U.S. military said approached the carrier “aggressively.”
The carrier later supported the Iran war, which has strained U.S. forces and munitions. Benzinga previously reported that Pentagon estimates put the conflict’s cost at roughly $25 billion by late April, while lawmakers questioned the longer-term burden on military readiness.
The Wall Street Journal, in a report on Thursday, revealed that the USS George Washington is expected to head to the region to replace the Lincoln in a move a U.S. official described as pre-planned.
Hegseth said he wants the sailors “home as soon as everybody else,” adding, “My commanders know that, our service secretaries know that, President Trump expects that.”
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