Families of USS Abraham Lincoln crew upset over Trump, Hegseth remarks

 A senior Navy machinist aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln pinged a family group chat in early May, asking her sister and mother whether they’d taken time off to be at her son’s graduation at Morehouse. Getting the 22-year-old kinesiology major through college had taken a fair amount of fussing, cursing and plenty of headaches, but it seemed like he’d finally made it to the finish line and there was cause for celebration.

The combat with Iran was dragging along. Internet service aboard the carrier was unreliable, the machinist said. 

“Graduation is in 12 days. Sadly, I may not even get to see pics of my boy on one of the most important days of his life,” she wrote. “This was one of my biggest fears, not to be here for him at a time like this.”

Tameka Kyles, the older sister of the machinist aboard the Lincoln, nearly cried as she shared details of her sister's deployment with a USA TODAY reporter. She said her sister joined the military to provide a better life for her son.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this, Kyles said. The Lincoln was scheduled to return in May, and the graduation was later that same month. In the weeks before that group chat message, President Donald Trump had said multiple times the conflict with Iran appeared to be winding down. Instead, her sister and thousands of other service members have remained on board for three additional months.

Kyles and another family member who spoke with USA TODAY both requested anonymity for their loved ones for fear of reprisal.

On August 20, the United States Central Command announced the USS George Washington had arrived in the Arabian Sea to take the next turn as an aircraft carrier in the Iran war. Several media outlets reported the same day that the Lincoln was heading back to San Diego.

USA TODAY reported in April on conditions aboard the Lincoln and the USS Tripoli, also deployed to the Middle East. A photo shared with a USA TODAY reporter showed a small handful of boiled carrots, a dry meat patty and a slab of gray processed meat from a meal on the Lincoln.

The change in warships comes after a fresh barrage of reporting about diminishing food supplies, a lack of hygiene products and declining mental health for service members who have been on board the Lincoln since November 2025. Outlets including Stars and Stripes and Military Times reported that crew members were struggling with their mental health and some had attempted to jump off the ship.

The crew still faces weeks on the water after spending more than 200 days without a port visit. It's one of the longest stretches for personnel on a modern aircraft carrier.

Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth and President Donald Trump both pushed back on accounts of substandard conditions on the carrier, calling the reports overblown or outright false.

Parents, siblings and spouses have expressed frustration with the administration's remarks on social media and to media outlets. The high-profile denials were frustrating and even enraging to families like Kyles’ who have seen what life on the warship looks like and heard detailed accounts of the challenges their loved ones faced during their protracted deployment. 

She told USA TODAY she was especially upset when Trump stated on August 14 that families were not concerned about their relatives, adding that in his view the deployment had not gone on nearly long enough.

“How about you bring your family out there?” Kyles suggested, recalling her immediate response to the president’s seemingly flippant remark. “How about you go out there and try and then tell us how it feels?”

The White House did not respond specifically to questions about the president’s remarks or conditions families mentioned on the ship. However, Anna Kelly, a White House spokesperson, said the president had restored “a focus on readiness, lethality, and supporting our warfighters at the Pentagon,” after years of failure by the Biden administration.

“The President cares about our troops more than anyone, and he is ensuring our brave servicemembers have all the resources they need to be successful as the United States Military continues to economically strangle the Iranian regime,” Kelly told USA TODAY.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, ranking member of the Veterans Affairs committee and member of the Armed Services committee, told USA TODAY he had heard "dramatically and directly” accounts about “shortages of food, clean water and other necessities like toothpaste and soap” on the Lincoln.

“The mental stress of not knowing when the deployment would end along with those conditions has imposed really serious anguish and anxiety,” he said.