The United States has pulled its last aircraft carrier from Asia as President Donald Trump focuses on Iran and the Western Hemisphere. The USS George Washington is departing the Pacific and expected to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Middle East.

Impact on the Region

The lack of a US carrier in the Pacific may be short-lived, but it shows how the open-ended operations with Iran are stretching the limits of US aircraft carriers. American allies in the Pacific are unsettled over the unpredictability of the Republican administration, while Beijing is taking advantage of the US distraction.

China has been conducting naval exercises with Indonesia and has shown signs of aggression toward Japan and the Philippines, two key US allies that also have territorial disputes with Beijing. The absence of a US carrier in the region gives China another opportunity to demonstrate its strength and undermine the US presence in the western Pacific.

US Military Presence

The US has argued that the Pacific region is too important economically to lose, but the lack of a carrier presence may embolden China to pursue its ambitions in the region. The US has 11 aircraft carriers, and typically deploys two or three at a time, but the current deployment schedule has been affected by the Iran war.

The USS Lincoln has spent a record uninterrupted time at sea of more than 240 days, and Democratic lawmakers have been calling for investigations and greater visibility into conditions aboard the ship. The US Navy has been trying to reassure regional allies of Washington’s commitment, with Adm. Frank Bradley, head of the US Special Operations Command, visiting Manila to strengthen the countries’ alliance.

Original reporting: NBC6 Miami — read the source article.