President Donald Trump has a constitutional obligation to check his ego at the door when it comes to military readiness. Increasingly, he is failing to do so, and it is having deleterious consequences for the Navy.
Trump reacted petulantly to concerns about conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier. Operating in the Arabian Sea, the carrier was supposed to return home in June. But the war with Iran has significantly extended its deployment. The crew and carrier air wing have had just one liberty port call during their long voyage, a single-day stop in Guam in December 2025. They have now spent more than six months at sea, working seven days a week, 12 hours or more each day, under wartime conditions.
This would strain sailors at the best of times. Iranian strikes on U.S. logistics bases in the Middle East mean the Abraham Lincoln has also experienced delays in deliveries of food, mail, and other quality-of-life supplies. Some aboard have suffered mental health problems, and families back home are concerned.
When asked last week whether he believed the carrier had been deployed for too long, Trump lashed out. The ship, he said, had been deployed “not nearly long enough.” This is childish and unbecoming rhetoric from the president. The majority of those aboard this ship are young men, about half of them on their first deployment. The least this crew deserves is gratitude from the commander in chief.
Trump could have said something like, “It’s very tough. I wish we could have these patriots back with their families right now. Sadly, national security means we have to ask them to stay a little longer.” Instead, he allowed his dislike of any criticism and his frustration with the stalemated war with Iran to be expressed as scorn for dedicated Americans.
Trump has also doubled down on Trump-class battleships. The Navy wants to build a new class of air-defense destroyers that can balance fleet size with more robust combat power. Striking this balance is crucial to deterring and, if necessary, defeating China’s vast and capable military. But Trump values the size and prestige of a warship over its military usefulness. The battleships will carry formidable armaments and tremendous power. But measured by financial cost, shipyard requirements, and total combat power, they play into China’s hands. The Navy will have warned Trump about these concerns before he made his decision.
Unfortunately, Trump’s focus on warship aesthetics over combat power extends to aircraft carriers.
The president continues to insist that the Navy redesign its new Gerald Ford-class aircraft carriers to replace electromagnetic launch catapults with older steam-powered systems. But while steam catapults are simpler, they are less energy-efficient and cause greater stress to aircraft. This is especially relevant with the advent of light unmanned drones. Steam catapults require extensive piping and, therefore, major redesigns. It is worth noting that the Navy’s record of successfully executing late-stage redesigns is awful.
It gets worse. As reported on Saturday, Trump also wants the Navy to redesign carriers so that their “island” command towers sit farther forward rather than toward the rear. The president prefers this more historic look. Naval architects place islands toward the rear of aircraft carriers not because some admiral thought they looked better there, but for operational reasons. These include aircraft deck maneuvering and concerns involving line of sight, radar control, and airflow during landing.
TRUMP ASKS SUPREME COURT TO ALLOW WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM CONSTRUCTION TO CONTINUE
The president needs to reconsider. Trump deserves credit for bolstering U.S. military resources. But the war in Iran should have taught him that major military decisions are fraught with risk. The war has heavily damaged Iran’s nuclear and military power, but it has also gutted U.S. military munitions and degraded readiness against China.
Trump owes the country, and those who serve it, a Navy built around warfighting effectiveness rather than his personal preferences.