Earlier today, wearing a slim-cut blue blazer and a blue-and-white striped dress shirt, with the upper buttons stretched wide open, the Secretary of Defense stood beside the guided-missile destroyer USS Gridley, docked in Panama, and slammed down reports spreading about truly troubling conditions aboard U.S. Navy ships in the Middle East. Speaking to gathered reporters, Pete Hegseth insisted that reports of poor conditions aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln were “completely misrepresented.” But the sailors aboard that ship are sharing something completely different. They have already had their deployment to the Middle East extended multiple times. Food is reportedly getting dangerously low, and mental health and morale have collapsed to the point that sailors are reportedly jumping from the ship rather than spend even another minute aboard under what had become deplorable conditions.
Absolutely disgraceful; first, to allow these conditions, but more to lie about it and deny all these peoples’ pain. Horrible. But thank you, Heather, again, and for including the photographs.
Thank you for sharing this story. Our brave service members don’t deserve this treatment. It’s all down to a lack of planning and strategic thought as to the logistics of a war with no forethought and no skilled leadership. Send trumpet and Kegsbreath out there for 3 weeks and see how they like living on a ship with little food, no bathing or laundry facilities and only 4-5 hours sleep each night. Bravo to these military families for standing up snd speaking out.
In addition to all that, those sailors are in an incredibly hot part of the world in the middle of summer! I’m surprised we aren’t hearing that there are cases of heat prostration. I bet neither tRumpty nor Kegsbreath would last five minutes there.
I was trained as a US Army infantry officer. It was drilled into us that you never, ever failed to deliver adequate chow to your troops. Food and pay were the key deliverables, followed by getting their mail. These are inviolable morale items. This situation is sickening, and those responsible should be relieved of command.
I am almost amused..."Tramp" (as if he is personally paying for it and doing the work) is renovating buildings like the Kennedy Center, HE is remodeling the airport, HE, HE, HE is doing everything. (But HE is no longer fixing the Reflecting Pool??)
Thank you Heather for following through with our military and the family members and suggesting reaching out if possible supplying help. It’s not about the financial aid, it’s more sometimes just being there for the family members holding down the hearts and homes here…
As you have shared military family members are quite closed mouthed. There are a multitude of people in this nation have either a family member, friend or neighbor who may have served and sacrificed for this nation. Even if you don’t know of someone who is currently serving most have had family, friends or neighbors who have. There’s a certain feeling of gratitude and appreciation that is sometimes difficult to explain that the majority of us feel when it comes to all who go into military service whether it has been years past or currently. Even if none of us have been in the military we are aware of the sacrifices that each and everyone have given.
The USS Gerald R. Ford recently completed a historic, grueling combat deployment. This carrier spent “326 days at sea” before returning to its home port at Naval Station Norfolk in mid-May 2026. Its historic deployment took it across the Caribbean (including the operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro), the Mediterranean, and the Middle East, where it actively supported operations in the war with Iran. This carrier had an 11-month tour, which marked the longest single U.S. aircraft carrier deployment since the Vietnam War. The military personnel on this carrier experienced the exact same “events and conditions” on their ship as the USS Abraham Lincoln. The only exception is no one tried or did jump off the ship… Same conditions, food shortages, moldy showers, broken toilets, inoperable laundry facilities, and weeks without hot water. Out of toothpaste, deodorant, and soap, standing in line for more than an hour at the ship’s store only to find the necessities they desperately needed were unavailable and care packages never arrived.
The USS Abraham Lincoln is the second air craft carrier to have these events or conditions for the people who serve their nation with their sacrifices to be in the military. The USS Abraham Lincoln has been operating in the Middle East for approximately seven months, having arrived in the region in January 2026. The Lincoln has over “260 days at sea” since leaving the United States.
Currently the USS George H.W. Bush is also in the Middle East as a part of their rotation. It is positioned in the Arabian Sea to put pressure on Iran and counter threats to vital international shipping lanes, like the Strait of Hormuz. This ship departed its home port of Naval Station Norfolk of on March 31, 2026 and arrived around April 24th. Already three months in, there are the same events and conditions reoccurring. Not yet to the extent as the Lincoln or the Ford, it’s just been three months. Four more months and it’s inevitable that our military personnel will once again be experiencing the same shite…
So for Kegsbreath to say this, all of this shite going on as being “completely misrepresented.” He can literally STFU… They all in this regime can STFU..
There are a number of especially mother’s who are already for the next round with this piece of slime.. personally know there’s a huge number of parents very happy to oblige shoving a few broom sticks up a number of orifices - will say there are a number of loyalists, in this regime and Congress that truly have no idea of what parents are capable of… who have sons and daughters in the military. There are two in particular in this entire regime who so enjoy applying makeup of various colors before they go in front of the cameras who decided to change the name from Dept. Of Defense to “War” … that they have no idea of what a war is when it comes to a mother… as well as a father.. It’s not a threat .. No one treats our military so disrespectfully, and cruelly … No one.. They do deserve better and so do all of us.. What you tolerate today, you accept tomorrow.
Each of us can do our part… Vote - because if you sit this midterm election out in 80 days it will become worse… As Twain said, “History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme”
Something being missed in all the stories I’ve read about the situation on the Lincoln is that the causes of mental health crises are not always “mental.” In a moldy environment you breathe in mold. When you have broken toilets and struggle to find a proper place to void, you may end up with UTIs, backed up colons, and digestive issues - after eating bad meat and other possibly unhealthy food, you could be suffering from food poisoning as well. Add in lack of proper sleep and the rest of the problems being described and it all leads to physical illnesses creating these symptoms of mental illness. Nobody should be discharged for a mental breakdown under conditions like these, let alone dishonorably discharged. They need to be relieved of these horrendous living conditions.
Please VOTE people. Midterms are our only chance to be the change we desperately need. This BS is totally unacceptable. I want to thank those who have served and are currently serving to protect our country. I wonder how many of our "representatives" have family members currently serving in the military. They should be appalled and speaking out even louder. But of course, they won't. We have to VOTE them out.
Thank you, Heather. You have presented a very clear picture, that even the most ardent Republican must disavow at their next opportunity to vote. Most Republicans have turned a blind eye to Trump because they fear what? The big bad Democrats, who always come in and fix whatever mess is created by the previous Republican administration.
Well, this time it is the worst. And no one will be untouched. Except maybe the ultra rich for a while. But we will be able to save democracy or the ability to improve it, if people will vote for the Blue or any other candidate other than Red Republicans. They are the deranged ones who only think of their power and not the people who elected them.
I have never seen such disregard for not only the constitution, but the TRUTH from this administration in my life. Nothing compares. I believe these sailors are representative of America and how this administration is affecting its citizens in general. I see it everywhere. Mental health is in a crisis!!!
Thank you again Heather for your reporting. I am a new subscriber.🫶🏻
Incompetent leaders promote and produce disastrous policies. Hegseth is a joke and he has fired every highly trained professional because they were the wrong sex or the wrong color. Shameful.
Speaking of the long deployment of the Abraham Lincoln, I too served on the carrier FDR in two tours of duty in the Mediterranean in 1970 and 1971 for 6 months and then we returned to home port in Mayport, Fl. I worked on the flight deck as a plane captain hauling tiedown chains and safety equipment for when the plane landed and I carried the same equipment back when the plane took flight off the carrier. Food was always an issue because we were hungry after working our asses off for 10 hour days. When food is rationed, the crew will respond and not in a good way and I don't mean sabotage, I'm talking readiness for defending the ship whether it be from battle or some onboard emergency like a fire or other emergency. Mental sharpness is required by all, because when you are on a ship everyone is bound by the same fate from the captain down to the lowest rank of sailor.
I have the utmost respect for these individuals as they didn't ask for this war..................no one on board a ship ever does.
They are started by powerful people that hide on food trucks and leave their mates stranded on a doomed vessel.
Edward Smith (the captain) went down with the RMS Titanic, and you can bet DJT would have been pushing and shoving his way onto a lifeboat leaving his family to die.
Hegseth is inept at best and a liar at worst. Congress needs to send that delegation over there and see for themselves what’s actually happening. We need to be demanding that they stop vacationing and act NOW.
Thank you Heather. I watched your great interview with Hunter Biden. You are a Godsend.
The USS Abraham Lincoln fiasco is
just another microcosm of the Trump macrocosmic failed regime. This manifests now as lack of food, broken toilets, shortages of basic needs and worse of all, the sailors are demoralized because their mission is defined by killing civilians which is now the “American way.” A really great thing to be proud of. Compare the aircraft carriers deplorable conditions to Trumps main focus of the $1B ballroom, the planned Arch de Trump, the new helipad, the gaudy,gilded, gold everywhere, marble floors, while the sailors have half a cup of rice and a gray meat like substance and sailers jumping off the ship. Those sailors represent the majority of American sentiment today about Trump’s malignant narcissism. We all want off this insane ship that is Trump that is trying to take America down to the level he’s at. Depraved.
In November, God willing, Trump sails into the sunset but not before he declares some fake national emergency, employ the National Guard or ICE, or the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, anything to stop the inevitable Trump knows will happen if he doesn’t interfere in the elections. He’s told us out loud he’s going to do it. This man is the biblical “ Father of lies.” John 11:44. He is devoid of soul, that which defines a human being. He has the unique distinction of being non human, like Adolph Hitler or Vladimir Putin. Zero empathy or compassion for anything. His narcissism is so malignant it has mastecized and spread to the USS Abraham Lincoln. The madness ends on November 3rd. The Middle East war, and all wars need to end now. The planet is reacting to the genocide in Gaza and the killing in Lebanon, and the destruction of Ukraine. If humanity wants to stop climate change, reverse global warming, end droughts, flooding, earthquakes, hurricanes, extreme un-natural disasters, heat waves, et al, END THE WARS NOW. Go to: www. TheCenterForWorldPeace.Love for “the solution to reversing global warming” and the (only) solution to a permanent and lasting peace in the Middle East and the world.
Remember: “As ye think so shall ye become.” This applies on a grander scale to the state of mind of humanity which is divided, hateful, vengeful, seeking revenge, selfish, lacking concern for our fellow human beings and the planet. Focused only on materialistic thoughts and things. What we are sowing we are reaping. It’s pure quantum physics; simply cause and effect. When the wars stop and the “brotherhood of (hu) man is a planetary reality the weather patterns WILL change.
This can happen overnight.
1 Timothy 2:5
Revelation 5:5
Revelation 22:16
IN GOD WE MUST TRUST. Trust that God has an intelligent design for humanity and a master plan for us that has a happy ending. Too much sorrow and suffering in the world.Make peace on earth the focus of our thoughts. Mark 11:24. “Believe it and we will have it.”
how dare Hegseth stand before these military families and say that this situation is "misrepresented?" How dare he? This, again, shows his utter incompetence and I so pray that Congress does something! When will they act??? I pray the military families keep on speaking out! I, for one, will support them with donations!
Absolutely disgraceful; first, to allow these conditions, but more to lie about it and deny all these peoples’ pain. Horrible. But thank you, Heather, again, and for including the photographs.
Thank you for sharing this story. Our brave service members don’t deserve this treatment. It’s all down to a lack of planning and strategic thought as to the logistics of a war with no forethought and no skilled leadership. Send trumpet and Kegsbreath out there for 3 weeks and see how they like living on a ship with little food, no bathing or laundry facilities and only 4-5 hours sleep each night. Bravo to these military families for standing up snd speaking out.
In addition to all that, those sailors are in an incredibly hot part of the world in the middle of summer! I’m surprised we aren’t hearing that there are cases of heat prostration. I bet neither tRumpty nor Kegsbreath would last five minutes there.
I was trained as a US Army infantry officer. It was drilled into us that you never, ever failed to deliver adequate chow to your troops. Food and pay were the key deliverables, followed by getting their mail. These are inviolable morale items. This situation is sickening, and those responsible should be relieved of command.
Kegsbreath is not only incompetent, he is an outrageous FOOL
To the nth degree!
True dat!
Thank you.💕
Wish they wouldn't replace one carrier with another as a solution.
Congress could have ordered the Fleet, Planes, Troops home 2nd day of "war." They didn't.
Congress can order ALL OF OUR MILITARY HOME NOW.
IRAN is holding back from attacking our Fleet/ Planes/ Troops. They are attacking our bases, but at least our bases can probably defend themselves.
Hegseth and Company have used up our muntions needlessly, and now we are more defenseless.
Stupid that they haven't figured out Iran can attack us. All because POTUS was talked into a war by Israel.
POTUS has said he is doing SOMETHING to the South lawn. Helipad? In time for visirlt from Chinese dictator.?
POTUS also announced he is going to REMODEL DC AIRPORT??
Announced with the "plans" on his desk.
Heard he is REPLACING THE COLUMNS ON THE WHITE HOUSE??
STILL LOOKING FOR CONGRESS TO STOP HIM.
WE are PAYING for his golf trips, his jet that was a "GIFT" that we " refurbished ( in RETURN HE GAVE OUR HIGH TECH CHIPS AWAY).
His trips to and back from Mar a lago @$23,000 AN HOUR, his trip to CHINA and back with 13 BILLIONAIRES ON BOARD ( No diplomats)😯
His trip to TURKEY and back.
Looking to keeping him at home, no Truth Social.
Take Care.💕
🗽🇺🇲🇺🇦
I am almost amused..."Tramp" (as if he is personally paying for it and doing the work) is renovating buildings like the Kennedy Center, HE is remodeling the airport, HE, HE, HE is doing everything. (But HE is no longer fixing the Reflecting Pool??)
Oh,don't forget - testosterone for the troops! Most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.
Thank you Heather for following through with our military and the family members and suggesting reaching out if possible supplying help. It’s not about the financial aid, it’s more sometimes just being there for the family members holding down the hearts and homes here…
As you have shared military family members are quite closed mouthed. There are a multitude of people in this nation have either a family member, friend or neighbor who may have served and sacrificed for this nation. Even if you don’t know of someone who is currently serving most have had family, friends or neighbors who have. There’s a certain feeling of gratitude and appreciation that is sometimes difficult to explain that the majority of us feel when it comes to all who go into military service whether it has been years past or currently. Even if none of us have been in the military we are aware of the sacrifices that each and everyone have given.
The USS Gerald R. Ford recently completed a historic, grueling combat deployment. This carrier spent “326 days at sea” before returning to its home port at Naval Station Norfolk in mid-May 2026. Its historic deployment took it across the Caribbean (including the operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro), the Mediterranean, and the Middle East, where it actively supported operations in the war with Iran. This carrier had an 11-month tour, which marked the longest single U.S. aircraft carrier deployment since the Vietnam War. The military personnel on this carrier experienced the exact same “events and conditions” on their ship as the USS Abraham Lincoln. The only exception is no one tried or did jump off the ship… Same conditions, food shortages, moldy showers, broken toilets, inoperable laundry facilities, and weeks without hot water. Out of toothpaste, deodorant, and soap, standing in line for more than an hour at the ship’s store only to find the necessities they desperately needed were unavailable and care packages never arrived.
The USS Abraham Lincoln is the second air craft carrier to have these events or conditions for the people who serve their nation with their sacrifices to be in the military. The USS Abraham Lincoln has been operating in the Middle East for approximately seven months, having arrived in the region in January 2026. The Lincoln has over “260 days at sea” since leaving the United States.
Currently the USS George H.W. Bush is also in the Middle East as a part of their rotation. It is positioned in the Arabian Sea to put pressure on Iran and counter threats to vital international shipping lanes, like the Strait of Hormuz. This ship departed its home port of Naval Station Norfolk of on March 31, 2026 and arrived around April 24th. Already three months in, there are the same events and conditions reoccurring. Not yet to the extent as the Lincoln or the Ford, it’s just been three months. Four more months and it’s inevitable that our military personnel will once again be experiencing the same shite…
So for Kegsbreath to say this, all of this shite going on as being “completely misrepresented.” He can literally STFU… They all in this regime can STFU..
There are a number of especially mother’s who are already for the next round with this piece of slime.. personally know there’s a huge number of parents very happy to oblige shoving a few broom sticks up a number of orifices - will say there are a number of loyalists, in this regime and Congress that truly have no idea of what parents are capable of… who have sons and daughters in the military. There are two in particular in this entire regime who so enjoy applying makeup of various colors before they go in front of the cameras who decided to change the name from Dept. Of Defense to “War” … that they have no idea of what a war is when it comes to a mother… as well as a father.. It’s not a threat .. No one treats our military so disrespectfully, and cruelly … No one.. They do deserve better and so do all of us.. What you tolerate today, you accept tomorrow.
Each of us can do our part… Vote - because if you sit this midterm election out in 80 days it will become worse… As Twain said, “History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme”
Something being missed in all the stories I’ve read about the situation on the Lincoln is that the causes of mental health crises are not always “mental.” In a moldy environment you breathe in mold. When you have broken toilets and struggle to find a proper place to void, you may end up with UTIs, backed up colons, and digestive issues - after eating bad meat and other possibly unhealthy food, you could be suffering from food poisoning as well. Add in lack of proper sleep and the rest of the problems being described and it all leads to physical illnesses creating these symptoms of mental illness. Nobody should be discharged for a mental breakdown under conditions like these, let alone dishonorably discharged. They need to be relieved of these horrendous living conditions.
This is obscene, a self-inflicted war crime, and thanks as usual to Heather for illuminating it.
Please VOTE people. Midterms are our only chance to be the change we desperately need. This BS is totally unacceptable. I want to thank those who have served and are currently serving to protect our country. I wonder how many of our "representatives" have family members currently serving in the military. They should be appalled and speaking out even louder. But of course, they won't. We have to VOTE them out.
Thank you, Heather. You have presented a very clear picture, that even the most ardent Republican must disavow at their next opportunity to vote. Most Republicans have turned a blind eye to Trump because they fear what? The big bad Democrats, who always come in and fix whatever mess is created by the previous Republican administration.
Well, this time it is the worst. And no one will be untouched. Except maybe the ultra rich for a while. But we will be able to save democracy or the ability to improve it, if people will vote for the Blue or any other candidate other than Red Republicans. They are the deranged ones who only think of their power and not the people who elected them.
I have never seen such disregard for not only the constitution, but the TRUTH from this administration in my life. Nothing compares. I believe these sailors are representative of America and how this administration is affecting its citizens in general. I see it everywhere. Mental health is in a crisis!!!
Thank you again Heather for your reporting. I am a new subscriber.🫶🏻
Incompetent leaders promote and produce disastrous policies. Hegseth is a joke and he has fired every highly trained professional because they were the wrong sex or the wrong color. Shameful.
Speaking of the long deployment of the Abraham Lincoln, I too served on the carrier FDR in two tours of duty in the Mediterranean in 1970 and 1971 for 6 months and then we returned to home port in Mayport, Fl. I worked on the flight deck as a plane captain hauling tiedown chains and safety equipment for when the plane landed and I carried the same equipment back when the plane took flight off the carrier. Food was always an issue because we were hungry after working our asses off for 10 hour days. When food is rationed, the crew will respond and not in a good way and I don't mean sabotage, I'm talking readiness for defending the ship whether it be from battle or some onboard emergency like a fire or other emergency. Mental sharpness is required by all, because when you are on a ship everyone is bound by the same fate from the captain down to the lowest rank of sailor.
I have the utmost respect for these individuals as they didn't ask for this war..................no one on board a ship ever does.
They are started by powerful people that hide on food trucks and leave their mates stranded on a doomed vessel.
Edward Smith (the captain) went down with the RMS Titanic, and you can bet DJT would have been pushing and shoving his way onto a lifeboat leaving his family to die.
Hegseth is inept at best and a liar at worst. Congress needs to send that delegation over there and see for themselves what’s actually happening. We need to be demanding that they stop vacationing and act NOW.
The state of our Union is very,very precarious.
Thank you Heather. I watched your great interview with Hunter Biden. You are a Godsend.
The USS Abraham Lincoln fiasco is
just another microcosm of the Trump macrocosmic failed regime. This manifests now as lack of food, broken toilets, shortages of basic needs and worse of all, the sailors are demoralized because their mission is defined by killing civilians which is now the “American way.” A really great thing to be proud of. Compare the aircraft carriers deplorable conditions to Trumps main focus of the $1B ballroom, the planned Arch de Trump, the new helipad, the gaudy,gilded, gold everywhere, marble floors, while the sailors have half a cup of rice and a gray meat like substance and sailers jumping off the ship. Those sailors represent the majority of American sentiment today about Trump’s malignant narcissism. We all want off this insane ship that is Trump that is trying to take America down to the level he’s at. Depraved.
In November, God willing, Trump sails into the sunset but not before he declares some fake national emergency, employ the National Guard or ICE, or the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, anything to stop the inevitable Trump knows will happen if he doesn’t interfere in the elections. He’s told us out loud he’s going to do it. This man is the biblical “ Father of lies.” John 11:44. He is devoid of soul, that which defines a human being. He has the unique distinction of being non human, like Adolph Hitler or Vladimir Putin. Zero empathy or compassion for anything. His narcissism is so malignant it has mastecized and spread to the USS Abraham Lincoln. The madness ends on November 3rd. The Middle East war, and all wars need to end now. The planet is reacting to the genocide in Gaza and the killing in Lebanon, and the destruction of Ukraine. If humanity wants to stop climate change, reverse global warming, end droughts, flooding, earthquakes, hurricanes, extreme un-natural disasters, heat waves, et al, END THE WARS NOW. Go to: www. TheCenterForWorldPeace.Love for “the solution to reversing global warming” and the (only) solution to a permanent and lasting peace in the Middle East and the world.
Remember: “As ye think so shall ye become.” This applies on a grander scale to the state of mind of humanity which is divided, hateful, vengeful, seeking revenge, selfish, lacking concern for our fellow human beings and the planet. Focused only on materialistic thoughts and things. What we are sowing we are reaping. It’s pure quantum physics; simply cause and effect. When the wars stop and the “brotherhood of (hu) man is a planetary reality the weather patterns WILL change.
This can happen overnight.
1 Timothy 2:5
Revelation 5:5
Revelation 22:16
IN GOD WE MUST TRUST. Trust that God has an intelligent design for humanity and a master plan for us that has a happy ending. Too much sorrow and suffering in the world.Make peace on earth the focus of our thoughts. Mark 11:24. “Believe it and we will have it.”
Bruce
Perfect solution! Make Hegseth spend two days on board in the same conditions as the troops. And he can’t bring his own makeup and hair gel.
how dare Hegseth stand before these military families and say that this situation is "misrepresented?" How dare he? This, again, shows his utter incompetence and I so pray that Congress does something! When will they act??? I pray the military families keep on speaking out! I, for one, will support them with donations!