Asked About Sailors' Morale on the USS Abraham Lincoln, Trump Says the Deployment Is 'Not Nearly Long Enough'

Speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews on Friday, Aug. 14, President Trump was asked by NBC News whether the USS Abraham Lincoln's deployment had run too long and whether he was concerned about sailors' mental health. "No. No. No — not nearly long enough," he answered. Families of sailors aboard the carrier had told NBC News their relatives described a lack of supplies and food and a worsening mental health situation. The Lincoln has been at sea roughly 250 days with no port call for more than 200, carrying about 5,000 sailors and Marines.

The remark came days after the defense secretary called reporting on conditions aboard the ship misrepresented. It places the commander in chief publicly at odds with the accounts of service members' families during an open-ended wartime deployment.

The USS George Washington is sailing to the Middle East and is expected to replace the Lincoln. No inquiry or change to the deployment schedule has been announced.