President Donald Trump downplayed the extended deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln amid the Iran war as part of dishonest reporting from the White House press corps.
“That was a CNN fake report,” Trump told reporters on Monday while speaking in the Oval Office. “The Lincoln has been out there for a period of time, good period of time, but over the years, we’ve had them out there much longer.”
The president then said he had spoken with an admiral over the weekend who claimed he had been on ships for a longer period of time than the current deployment and that the ship was well maintained.
“He said, ‘I’ve been on ships that are out there much longer than that, sir. And I know people on the Lincoln. They say it’s beautifully maintained and beautifully taken care of. And other people went out, and they found out to be true.’ It was fake news reporting from CNN,” Trump added.
The USS Abraham Lincoln has been deployed in the Middle East for more than 260 days, as reports of deteriorating conditions come into light and as family members of sailors on board plead for help. The ship has set a modern Navy record for the longest uninterrupted time at sea without a port visit.
Trump, when asked Friday if the USS Lincoln deployment had gone on too long, said, “No, not nearly long enough.”
But acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao recently said the ship would return home and sought to downplay criticisms that sailors were facing mental health problems during the long deployment.
“The Lincoln was extended because the mission demanded it. Deployments are hard,” Cao said in a statement. “Combat operations make them harder. War is hell and normal routines are disrupted.”
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Cao also blamed the media for “dishonest” reporting while also conceding that some of the reports were true. Family members of sailors also met with senior Navy leaders this month, as 5,000 sailors have remained aboard the USS Lincoln since it deployed Nov. 21, 2025. The original deployment was supposed to end in May.
“It is also true—Calls home were limited when the operational threat was too high,” Cao said in the statement. “A small number of mental health cases were treated with no loss of life. Meal plans were adjusted when fresh resupply was unavailable, without a single meal being missed.”