President Donald Trump on Friday dismissed claims that families of service members aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln have concerns about conditions aboard the aircraft carrier, which has been deployed for nearly nine months supporting operations in the Middle East.
Trump’s Comments
Instead, Trump claimed the ship’s lengthy deployment had in fact not been long enough. “No, they’re not,” Trump said when asked by reporters at Joint Base Andrews about relatives of those aboard the ship expressing worry about mental health and living conditions for their relatives.
He said the Lincoln was moving out of the region soon, and would be replaced by “another, very similar, ship.” But asked whether the Lincoln’s eight-and-a-half months at sea was too long, Trump claimed the opposite was true. “No, no, no. Not nearly long enough,” he said before turning abruptly to board Air Force One.
Background
The USS Abraham Lincoln has been deployed for more than 250 days after being redirected to the Middle East to support US operations in the war with Iran, now entering its sixth month. With roughly 5,000 sailors and Marines aboard, it has not made a port call in more than 200 days, setting a modern-day record for consecutive days at sea.
The USS George Washington carrier group, which finished a port visit in Vietnam on August 5, is currently headed to the Middle East to replace the Lincoln, a US official told CNN on Thursday.
Original reporting: KEYT (Ventura/Santa Barbara) — read the source article.
