Navy secretary calls reports of Lincoln crew struggles ‘dishonest’

NAPLES, Italy — Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao pushed back Friday against what he described as dishonest media coverage of conditions aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, saying it harmed service members and distracted from their mission.

The comments followed days of widespread coverage and online claims about food and water shortages, disrupted mail service, difficult living conditions and fears about self-harm aboard the carrier.

Cao did not identify any specific reports or news organizations in the statement posted to his official X account.

“Sailors and Marines are expected to dig deep — and they always do,” said Cao, adding that military leaders had successfully balanced their responsibility to take care of service members while meeting mission requirements during the carrier’s nearly nine-month deployment.

Service members and their families were not victims but rather the epitome of strength and resilience, Cao said.

He said the media reports distracted from the “focus on the enemy and the threat it poses against our nation, people, and way of life.”

Stars and Stripes reported Tuesday that concerns among sailors and their families about mental health and the risk of self-harm aboard the carrier had been raised to senior officials during town hall meetings. Cao did not dispute that those concerns were raised or specifically mention the Stars and Stripes report.

The Middle East deployment has included few regular port calls, which sailors say provide a much-needed break from their jobs and an opportunity to reset.

Sailors aboard Lincoln also told the newspaper that at least one fellow service member had been stopped from jumping off the ship a few months ago. The Navy did not respond to questions about that incident.

On Friday, U.S. Central Command confirmed in a post on X that another sailor on Lincoln fell overboard earlier this month and was quickly recovered. The circumstances of that incident were not clear.

The concerns first detailed by Stars and Stripes drew subsequent coverage from Navy Times and other news organizations, as well as commentary and additional claims online. The issue also drew the attention of U.S. lawmakers, some of whom are demanding an investigation into conditions aboard the carrier.

Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., announced Thursday that he would seek a report from the Pentagon and the Trump administration detailing conditions aboard the ship and plans to address them.

“At the end of the day, we know that those who are serving have to have comfort knowing that they’re getting properly taken care of,” Stutzman said in an interview with CNN Thursday.

CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper completed a 10-day visit to the Middle East on Saturday. The trip included visits to six countries and Lincoln, CENTCOM said in a statement posted to its official X account.

During the visit, Cooper addressed the Lincoln’s entire team, thanking them for their courage and dedication. He also met with junior sailors and awarded deserving individuals, CENTCOM said.

“The Lincoln Carrier Strike Group is a strong team of high-achieving Americans standing tall with immense, justified pride in everything they accomplished,” Cooper said in the statement. “History will record this deployment as one of the most operationally intense and consequential of the modern era.”

On Friday, an unidentified Navy official confirmed to Stripes that the aircraft carrier USS George Washington was being sent to relieve Lincoln, which is in the Arabian Sea. The carrier will return home soon as part of a planned rotation, Cao said in his post, which did not offer additional details.

Washington, along with the cruiser USS Robert Smalls and the destroyer USS Shoup were photographed Thursday transiting the Singapore Strait, according to a post on X by @WarshipCam. The narrow waterway connects to the Strait of Malacca, which opens into the Andaman Sea and the broader Indian Ocean.

President Donald Trump also dismissed reports Friday about conditions aboard the Lincoln, saying family members were not worried about living conditions and mental health.

When asked whether the carrier, which left San Diego in November, had been deployed too long, Trump responded, “No, no, no. Not nearly long enough.”

On Thursday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said recent reports about the Lincoln were “completely misrepresented.”

In his statement, Cao said that a small number of mental health cases aboard Lincoln were treated with no loss of life, and that while meal plans were adjusted when fresh supplies were unavailable, no meals had been missed. Calls home were limited when the operational threat was too high, he said.

He also pointed out that the ship had been on deployment for 266 days, most of that time in a combat zone. Lincoln also had among the highest retention rates among carriers, Cao said.

“There is no question our young men and women have been pushed to their limits — but they have never broken,” he said. “They are rightly tired — but have never been out of the fight.”

Lincoln has spent much of its deployment supporting the U.S.-led war against Iran and the blockade of Iranian ports. Port calls have been rare in part because the nearest common stops, including Bahrain, have been within range of Iranian missile and drone attacks.