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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Ed Pilkington

Families of US sailors denounce Trump and Hegseth for ‘dismissing their experiences and calling them liars’

United States Donald Trump Pete Hegseth CENTCOM Lincoln
Flight deck hands prepare a warplane for launch on an aircraft carrier.
An EA-18G Growler prepares to launch from the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln on 7 March 2026. Photograph: US Navy/AFP/Getty Images

Naval families with loved ones deployed for months on US warships amid the Iran war have reacted with fury to Donald Trump and the defense secretary Pete Hegseth’s dismissal of their concerns about the extreme pressures and dire conditions they are enduring.

The Guardian has talked to three naval families who have been following the physical and mental stresses bearing down on their relatives with mounting alarm. The families, with loved ones onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Tripoli, all spoke anonymously for fear of retribution against their active-duty relatives.

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