Adm. Brad Cooper, who heads U.S. Central Command, spent Saturday aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, a carrier closing in on nine months at sea. The ship has been out for more than 240 consecutive days. Deployments normally run about six months.
His visit came after families raised concerns about mental health problems and supply shortages on board. Cooper called the time with the crew “awe-inspiring.” “I wish every American could see the crew in action,” he said. “You would beam with absolute pride when witnessing their camaraderie, teamwork and resilience.”
He did not claim all was well. The Lincoln has one of the lowest rates of mental health cases among the Navy’s 11 active carriers, Cooper noted, but he added: “This doesn’t mean that all is perfect.” Long stretches at sea, he said, are “uniquely challenging and tough,” and “every single one of us, including me, reacts to stressors in different ways.” The USS George Washington is on its way to take over from the Lincoln.
Pushback over Trump’s remark
President Donald Trump drew criticism on Friday when he said the Lincoln’s deployment was “not nearly long enough.” Maryland Gov. Wes Moore went after the comment on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, saying it “pisses me off” and asking for more compassion toward service members and their families.
Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” also said the administration should acknowledge how hard long deployments are. He raised the possibility of shortages in cruise missiles and Patriot systems. “This is not a good thing. I think that’s the No. 1 issue,” Bacon said. “We’ve conducted these operations, and it appears there’s a lack of transparency.”
Attacks at sea and a bounty
The United Arab Emirates said Iran fired on a tanker belonging to the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday. The projectile hit the hull. No injuries were reported.
On Sunday, Iranian army chief Amir Hatami announced a $30,000 bounty for capturing or killing U.S. military personnel. The payout would double if an Iranian woman carried it out. Seventeen U.S. service members have died since the conflict began, all outside Iranian territory.
Lebanon, Gaza and South Korea
In southern Lebanon, two Israeli airstrikes on Saturday killed 11 people during a shaky truce with Hezbollah. Israel’s military said it struck legitimate Hezbollah positions where human shields were in use.
Jared Kushner met Hamas representatives and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Egypt on Sunday to walk through a proposed peace framework. Under it, Hamas would disarm and hand governing authority in Gaza to an administrative committee. A ceasefire would hold, and Israeli troops would withdraw as an international stabilizing force moved in. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had already rejected the plan, saying troops would stay until disarmament is verifiably complete.
Separately, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he had told Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to cut back joint exercises with South Korea. He said Seoul recently turned down a request to join efforts to denuclearize Iran, and that costs and relations with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un also played a part.
