Military families and CNN report worsening conditions on USS Abraham Lincoln during record-long deployment; Trump and Hegseth dispute severity
Subject of this story
What happened
The USS Abraham Lincoln has spent over 240 consecutive days at sea without a port call amid Middle East operations, part of a roughly nine-month deployment. CNN's Jake Tapper interviewed the spouse of a service member aboard, who described deteriorating conditions and accused the administration of dismissing families' concerns. Reported issues include food and sanitation concerns (which prompted a Democratic request for a Pentagon briefing), plumbing failures, and mental-health strain, including one sailor recovered after going overboard. Hegseth called reports of the conditions 'completely misrepresented,' and Trump said the deployment had 'not nearly' gone on long enough and downplayed families' concerns.
Sources (2)
Response
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What happened next (0)
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