USS Lincoln fiasco shows Trump administration's 'true lack of leadership': Senator

US Senator Ruben Gallego says the dire conditions for sailors and Marines aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln demonstrate a "true lack of leadership" in the Trump administration.

In an interview with ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, Gallego, a Marine Corps veteran, blamed the Trump administration's poor leadership for the ship's severe shortages of food and hygiene supplies, as well as the mounting mental health crisis among the crew.

“The president has shown that he just doesn’t really care about the troops,” Gallego told host Martha Raddatz. “He thinks about them more as toys and as ways to basically show off or show his strength.”

"When they get back home, when they start having that conversation with their spouse, asking if it is worth rejoining, they're going to have to think twice," Gallego noted. "Look at how this leadership is treating them, and that again is... a true lack of leadership from the secretary of defense as well as the president."

The Lincoln left the US in November 2025 for what was supposed to be a standard deployment. Nine months later, those sailors are still at sea.

The carrier was initially rerouted in January for a military operation against Venezuela, and was subsequently deployed to West Asia as part of the war of aggression against Iran for an unprecedented, extended period.

Since then, the deteriorating conditions aboard the carrier, including moldy facilities, rationed meals, and a severe mental health crisis with multiple reported suicide attempts among the crew, have been highlighted by US lawmakers.

Ex-US senator decries government’s ‘indifference’ toward hungry troops aboard USS Abraham Lincoln

A former US state senator has condemned the Trump administration over harsh conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.

Family members of Marines and sailors aboard the ship have described severe food and supply shortages, alongside a mental health situation spiraling out of control, prompting desperate service members to attempt to jump overboard.

US President Donald Trump responded to reporters asking about the length of the deployment on Friday, saying, “Not nearly long enough.”

War Secretary Pete Hegseth dismissed the reports of dire conditions on the ship as “completely misrepresented.”

Gallego responded to those comments in a separate interview with NPR, stating, “That’s not proper leadership.”

He warned that treating troops like toys will ultimately break them, adding that the families left behind are breaking, too.

On Thursday, Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), a veteran of the 82nd Airborne Division and 75th Ranger Regiment, wrote on social media that "President Trump does not care about our service members or their families."

Also on Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Hegseth "must be fired immediately."

"When Pete Hegseth was nominated, everyone knew he was completely incompetent," Schumer wrote on X. "Now our brave sailors are paying the price in a horrific and unfathomable way. Pete Hegseth must be fired immediately."

Meanwhile, US Central Command Commander Adm. Brad Cooper said on Saturday evening that the sailors and Marines on board the Lincoln would soon be heading home, adding that the situation aboard the carrier was being addressed.

An anonymous official in the Trump administration told ABC News that the USS George Washington has left the Pacific Ocean and is expected to replace the Lincoln next week in the Arabian Sea.

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