What military moms REALLY think about Trump as sailors try to go overboard on USS Abraham Lincoln: 'Too busy painting the White House gold'

By NICK ALLEN, US NEWS EDITOR (POLITICS) Published: 19:43, 20 August 2026 | Updated: 19:54, 20 August 2026 An army marches on its stomach, as Napoleon well knew, and it applies to sailors too. It's advice President Trump might want to take note of, especially given the pictures from the USS Abraham Lincoln showing what looked vaguely like the sole of a shoe masquerading as lunchmeat. Conditions on board the ship reportedly reached such a low that one sailor jumped overboard, and was rescued, while a few others tried. One told his mother that a conspiracy theory was circulating on the ship that they were part of a Pentagon psychological experiment to see how far people could be pushed before they break. All has ended well. The Lincoln is now finally coming home from the Arabian Sea, following a record-setting uninterrupted time of more than 240 days without a port call. The head of Central Command praised the 5,000 on board as the 'latest greatest generation' who pulled off a 'performance for the ages' in the Iran war. However, some argue there could be long-term effects, both on sailors and on President support among some military families. The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln has been in the Arabian Sea and is now finally heading home There is, of course, something of an omerta on board the ship itself. The military, as always, gets on with its job no matter what. But, unlike Napoleon's troops, or those of the greatest generation, the sailors on the Lincoln had access to spotty Wifi and text messages, and their concerned mothers, in turn, took to social media. And some of those mothers, including ones who voted for President Trump, have not been shy about making their frustration known. It is not just the time their loved ones have been away they are criticizing, but the fact that they were there at all. The president promised no more Middle East wars, they say, yet the Iran war is about to hit the six-month mark with no end in sight. In a Facebook group for families of those on board the Lincoln, one sailor's mother lamented: 'My son is on there, he said a lot of them feel like they already died and are just floating around in purgatory.' Another mother complained of the administration: 'They were too busy taking Kid Rock on helicopter rides and painting everything gold at the White House.' The final straw for some sailors' mothers appears to have been when Iran hawks, supporters of the president, suggested that their sons should not be so 'weak.'  One mother wrote in the ship Facebook group: 'The only ones I heard say anything like that were MAGA people who never served! These sailors are human and they need relief too! They need to be treated better than (Defense Secretary Pete) Hegseth treats them! They should never be put in that situation again!' However, that sentiment is far from universal among sailors' families. One self-described MAGA military mother slapped back: 'Maga here and 21 year old serves AF. Your comment is ignorant.' Another added: 'Stop with your political rhetoric. Our military does not need it. Most are strong men and women who knew what signing up for this job meant. Take your political hate (against Trump) elsewhere.' 'Quit trying to make them out to be weak. It's not true,' added another relative, to which a reply came: 'You try eating a cup of rice and 2 tortillas every day.' Other family members accused the media of exaggerating problems on board and 'demeaning' the Lincoln's mission. One relative concluded: 'Why are we arguing?' An aviation ordnanceman directs an MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln Since the start of the Iran war reports have surfaced of food shortages and rationing aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, accompanied by grim images of sailors' meals An F/A-18E Super Hornet prepares to land on the USS Abraham Lincoln For its part the White House, Pentagon and Central Command dismiss reports of low morale, food rationing, water shortages, clogged toilets and moldy showers as 'fake news.' Hegseth said recently that the reports had been 'completely misrepresented.'  Meanwhile, Republicans accuse Democrats of amplifying inaccurate reports in a desperate attempt to denude Trump's support among the military, a key voting bloc for Republicans in the midterms in November, and in 2028. They argue that Democrats, and the media, should instead focus on the achievements of the carrier's 5,000-strong crew amid some of the most intense sea combat since World War II. Those achievements have included sinking Iran's navy, shooting down over 200 of its drones, launching hundreds of strikes against the regime, and successfully blockading the rogue country. So, in the confusion, what is the truth about events on the Lincoln, and how unusual really was the length of its deployment? The ship's mission has undoubtedly been arduous. It began on November 21, leaving its home port of San Diego for what was supposed to be a routine deployment in the Pacific. In January, it arrived in the Arabian Sea, and the following month the war with Iran began. Since then, the carrier has set a modern-day record for most continuous days at sea, having briefly stopped in Guam on December 11. Carriers usually port every 30 to 45 days for resupply, rest, and maintenance. At one point, a sailor texted his wife to say there had been no milk for three months. 'Why isn’t there milk?!” he wrote. 'Sometimes it (meat) gets here rotten.' On July 7, the ship briefly pulled into Oman, which included picking up fresh fruits and vegetables. A sailor launches an F-35C Lightning II from the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln during the ongoing conflict with Iran August 5, 2026 President Donald Trump has refuted claims that sailors aboard the US Abraham Lincoln experienced bad conditions and rejected suggestions that they were at sea too long Aircraft on the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea Then, on August 3, a 19-year-old sailor jumped overboard, in a life jacket, and was in the water for about an hour before he was rescued, in what was described as a mental health incident. His daughter had been born while he was at sea and his texts to his wife had become increasingly concerning. In one she shared with MS Now, the sailor wrote: 'I think the boat is finally getting to me...I don't even know if I can finish this deployment.' The genesis of the teenage sailor's low morale appeared to be that, due to the unexpected length of the deployment, his supply of contact lenses had expired, and he could not see properly. He reportedly worked on aircraft on the flight deck, was making mistakes, and being yelled at. Meanwhile, other families expressed their concerns, to military publications including The Navy Times and Stars and Stripes. They spoke of watching their loved ones slowly 'break down' or 'lose hope.' One woman said her husband had tried to jump overboard because he was 'burnt out' and feared his 13-year career would be over. Another sailor told his wife he had seen a shipmate attempting to jump, and stepped in to stop them. It wasn't clear if that was the same incident in which it was announced to the whole ship that someone had been prevented from going overboard. An F/A-18E Super Hornet launches from the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln on August 14, 2026 Secretary of War Pete Hegseth waved off concerns about the USS Lincoln's living conditions for troops as a complete mischaracterization A US sailor conducts maintenance on an MH-60S Sea Hawk in the hangar bay of the USS Abraham Lincoln during the ongoing conflict with Iran on August 9, 2026 In a letter to Stars and Stripes in July, one mother wrote: 'My son is currently on that ship and listening to him say that he and his shipmates constantly think about jumping off the ship just for relief is so hard to listen to.' She added that the purpose of their mission did not seem clear. 'Our loved ones are out there fighting with no understanding as to what they’re defending,' she wrote. On August 6, three days after the flight deck sailor went overboard, 200 family members gathered in a banquet room at the Island Club on Naval Base Coronado, overlooking the Pacific in California. Navy Secretary Hung Cao fielded questions from mothers and spouses, some of whom were in tears. One wife said she had just received a message from her husband saying he 'hopes he doesn’t wake up tomorrow.' Another said her daughter felt like she was never coming home. The Navy said it would send more mental health staff to the ship, and that already on board were five chaplains, a clinical psychologist, a clinical social worker, and three behavioral health technicians. It also disputed that there was mold in the showers, saying it was just mildew. Officials also explained that, due to the war, resupply to the ship from Bahrain, the base of the 5th Fleet, had become more difficult. A surveillance plane prepares to launch from USS Abraham Lincoln USS Abraham Lincoln conducting operations in the Arabian Sea Research shows being on an aircraft carrier is stressful at the best of times. According to a study of nearly 1,000 carrier sailors last year in the journal Military Medicine, the most stressful element is exposure to loud noises, followed by not being able to rest when needed, and a lack of quality mental and physical health care, Whatever the situation on the Lincoln, it has undoubtedly become highly politicized as Democrats seek to make it a symbol of opposition to Trump's Iran war. Leading the charge is Arizona senator Mark Kelly, a former Navy pilot and potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2028. 'They (sailors on the Lincoln) got deployed to go to war without a strategic goal and, without a plan, without a timeline,” Kelly said. 'And the consequence of this is just poor mental health and crew members jumping overboard.' Democratic senator Jon Ossoff, another potential 2028 candidate, called the president 'uniquely despicable' because he 'promised peace and gave us war.' Military polls are few, but there are some indicators of President Trump's support among military voters slipping. A poll of military voters this year by Rasmussen Reports and Veteran Action found that 61 per cent had voted for him in the 2024 election, with only 32 percent backing Kamala Harris. However, by March 2026, 53 percent thought things were on the right track, and 44 per cent on the wrong track. Among female military voters, a majority said wrong track. In that poll, taken just after the start of the Iran war, Trump's overall approval rating among military voters remained at 60 percent, about 15 points higher than with the general population. Crew members watch an F/A-18E Super Hornet landing on the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea Sailors working with ordnance on the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln In recent days, president Trump himself downplayed the reports about conditions on the Lincoln. Asked if the ship had been at sea for too long, he said 'No, not nearly long enough,' and that 'over the years, we’ve had them out there much longer.' He is, in one sense, correct. The Lincoln has been deployed for just over 270 days in total. That does not even put it in the top 10 longest carrier deployments. In May this year the USS Gerald R Ford completed the longest carrier mission since the Vietnam War after 326 days. During the Vietnam War itself both the USS Midway and the USS Coral Sea surpassed that. However, none of them were continuously at sea for so long without a port break. Frustration at President Trump himself, and the Iran war, is evident among some of the sailors' mothers. After her son texted her about food shortages, lack of showers and laundry facilities, Nicole Conrad, who voted for Trump, told MS Now: “He (Trump) put our nose in a war that we shouldn’t be in.' Bonnie York, who has a stepson on the ship, added: 'I voted for Trump because he said he wasn’t going to go to war. I don’t think we’re safer. I think we’ve depleted a lot of things. I think we’ve pushed our military to the edge.' Meanwhile, on the family Facebook group, relatives were also upset at not being able to get packages to their loved ones. One sailor's mother wrote: 'This is ridiculous that they are in need of personal supplies and we are having a hard time getting things to them!!!' Another wrote: 'If they would deliver their packages they might not be in such dire need and their morale would be better!! I have sent my sailor 12 packages and they have only received but 4 of them. They got their Easter package on the 4th of July!!! Ridiculous!!' Others called for an end to 'negative' posts because they spark unnecessary panic. 'I’ve seen firsthand how deployment rumors spiral,' one relative wrote. 'Often, a few disgruntled individuals downrange complain to their spouses back home, who then spread the distress across the whole community.' In a post with a large number of likes, another relative wrote: 'They are on a mission and need to focus on their job. Being a supportive parent, wife and grandma, is the most valuable thing you can do. They need to know home is okay, they need to know and hear your support and positivity.' Back in Washington, some worry about the longer term effects of the deployment on the sailors, and called for a change of culture in the Navy. Andrea Goldstein, who was acting director of Navy force resiliency in the Biden administration, asked if nothing had been learned from when 11 sailors from the aircraft carrier USS George Washington took their own lives between 2017 and 2022. Ironically, it is the USS George Washington that headed to the Middle East to relieve the Lincoln this week. 'Some leaders were willing to have this conversation (about mental health,)' according to Goldstein. 'I worked for them directly and we had some movement in it, but they are no longer in the building. 'There were others who were absolutely contemptuous towards sailors and believed, while wearing four stars, that a “complaining sailor is a happy sailor.” 'And that’s how we end up with sailors trying to jump off an aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea.' The flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln on the first day of the Iran war  Sailors onboard the aircraft carrier have been deployed for more than eight months with no indication of when they might return The Navy categorically rejects that the risk of suicide on the Lincoln was any higher than other ships. 'We have not observed an increase in suicidal ideations aboard the ship,' it said in a statement. 'We take every service member’s well-being seriously and have medical and mental health professionals available to assess and address concerns as they arise. 'Our medical professionals continually monitor for trends to ensure issues are identified and addressed early.' On August 15, Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command, visited the Lincoln and delivered the news many on board had been waiting for. 'You have delivered a performance for the ages, and now you are going home,' he said. Cooper said the concerns that had been raised about conditions on the ship were 'old news' and had been resolved.  'The men and women serving in this strike group are truly America’s latest greatest generation,' he said.