Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dropped for two pushups aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln this week, celebrating a crew that endured 320 days at sea, eight suicide attempts, and supply shortages so severe that sailors reportedly tried to jump overboard — all to sustain a war with Iran that the establishment press won't scrutinize for cost or purpose.
The Lincoln pulled into San Diego after one of the longest carrier deployments since Vietnam, having spent over 260 consecutive days at sea without a single port call — a Navy record. Hegseth, who personally signed the orders extending the deployment twice, told the roughly 5,000 sailors: "I realize I'm the only thing standing between you and home. I'm the one who signed that orders book twice to extend you… I plead guilty because of the incredible effectiveness that you showcased on the battlefield and the necessity." He then announced the crew would receive the Presidential Unit Citation.
The New York Post framed the visit as a "hero's welcome," spotlighting Hegseth's pushups — done after he botched a combat-hours statistic — and the carrier's combat record: 10,000 sorties, 1.5 million pounds of ordnance dropped. The Guardian led with the mental health toll and noted Hegseth "sought to play down the issues." The Daily Caller straightforwardly reported the eight suicide attempts confirmed by Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao in a September 22 letter to Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.
Those eight attempts are the fact the cheerleaders don't want front and center. Neither do the food and hygiene shortages caused by Iran's disruption of supply lines through a base in Bahrain. Nor do the families who held an informal town hall in San Diego on August 6 to raise alarms about self-harm among the ranks. When asked whether the deployment had gone on too long, President Trump responded, "Not nearly long enough" — a remark the Guardian noted upset naval families.
Hegseth blamed the press for exposing the crisis. "There were a few folks in the media who tried to turn the USS Abraham Lincoln into some sort of a symbol, a symbol of dysfunction, or a symbol of low morale, or a symbol of a failed mission," he said. "I know it's the exact opposite."
The Lincoln deployed in November 2025, initially bound for the Pacific. After the U.S. and Israel launched their war on Iran in late February, it was redirected to the Middle East for Operation Epic Fury and the blockade of Iran. The carrier was relieved by the USS George Washington in August but took weeks to reach home port. Adm. Brad Cooper called it "one of the most operationally intense and consequential of the modern era."
What neither Hegseth nor the fawning coverage addresses: what this deployment cost American taxpayers, who profits from sustained carrier operations in the Persian Gulf, and what exactly the U.S. interest is in maintaining a blockade that stretches sailors to the breaking point. Intense for the defense contractors billing hours — or for the sailors who spent 300 days at sea without basic supplies?
The pushups made the clips. Eight suicide attempts didn't. That's the story — and a press corps that covers the Pentagon like a hype man instead of asking who pays and who profits.
