New US carrier strike group arrives in Middle East to relieve long-deployed USS Abraham Lincoln

A new US aircraft carrier strike group has arrived in the Middle East, the US military announced on Thursday, after conditions aboard a long-deployed carrier provoked fresh criticism of President Donald Trump's war against Iran.

"The George Washington Carrier Strike Group is operating in Middle East during a scheduled deployment after arriving in the CENTCOM theatre yesterday," Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees US forces in the Middle East, said in a post on X.

The update comes just days after media reports on grim conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier, deployed since November 2025, had created an unwelcome distraction for Trump in his attempt to sell the already unpopular war.

Trump dismissed concerns last Friday over living conditions and the mental health of service members on the Lincoln, while confirming the ship would soon rotate out.

Asked by reporters whether family members were worried about the situation on the USS Abraham Lincoln, Trump said "no, they're not."

The president confirmed reports that the ship was due to be swapped out with another aircraft carrier, as the United States remains locked in a stalemate with Iran over control of the Strait of Hormuz and the country's nuclear programme.

"That ship is moving right now or very shortly and it's being replaced with another very similar ship," Trump said.

US media, including specialist military publications, quoted multiple relatives of crew members saying living conditions had deteriorated on the Lincoln. There were also reports of several suicide attempts.

Among details emerging from accounts by sailors' families was that two sailors had tried to jump overboard.

The US military has said that one sailor who fell into the sea on 3 August was recovered.

"A small number of mental health cases were treated with no loss of life," acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao said in a statement, blaming the media for "trying to paint our warriors as victims."

Democratic lawmakers are calling for an investigation.

Jonathan Schroden, chief research officer at the Centre for Naval Analyses, told the AFP news agency that carrier strike groups are generally designed for six-month deployments for reasons including sailor welfare.

The Japan-based USS George Washington had been operating in the Pacific and its transfer means there is no longer any US aircraft carrier in that region.

The Lincoln had departed California in November 2025 for duty in the South China Sea and was rerouted to the Middle East before US-Israeli attacks on Iran that began in late February.