Columnist Peter Hitchens writes that the USS Abraham Lincoln, an American aircraft carrier, is a metaphor for President Trump's decline and the US's flawed strategy and leadership. The ship, which costs £10billion to replace, has been plagued by problems including rust, slime, and food shortages during its 260-day deployment at sea. Hitchens suggests that these issues are linked to Iran's successful destruction of a US naval base in Bahrain, which has cost the US £300million in damages. The article is an opinion piece, with Hitchens using the USS Abraham Lincoln as a symbol for what he sees as the US's decline and poor leadership under Trump.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-06,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
The USS Abraham Lincoln, a US aircraft carrier, docked in Pattaya, Thailand on Thursday, June (exact date unknown) after a record-breaking deployment of 286 days at sea without a port call. The crew, numbering around 5,000, had been supporting the US war against Iran and were reportedly experiencing deteriorating mental health, food shortages, and plumbing failures. Some sailors even attempted to jump overboard due to the harsh conditions.
Two US sailors were removed from Thailand's resort town of Pattaya after a drunken brawl in the early hours of Thursday near Walking Street, according to Thai police chief Colonel Anek Srathongyoo. The incident was described as "trivial" and the sailors were sent back to the ship without charges.
The USS Abraham Lincoln's deployment has been criticized by President Donald Trump, who said it was "not nearly long enough." However, families of those on board have spoken out about concerns over mental health and supply issues aboard the aircraft carrier. The US Navy downplayed any problems, but Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth characterized reports as "completely misrepresented."
The USS Abraham Lincoln is expected to depart Thailand this weekend and continue its journey back to the US. Meanwhile, fighting has intensified in the Gulf region between the US and Iran, with nearly 5,000 troops on board the USS Abraham Lincoln finally heading home after nearly 300 days of deployment.
Written for “US Military Presence in Thailand” on 2026-09-07,
grounded in this article and the 7 other(s) covering the same event.
The American aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln looks as if she has been dredged up from the sea bottom.
asserted
she → look → bottom
She is crusted with rust, stained by slime and heaven knows what barnacles and weeds cling to her bottom, out of sight.
asserted
barnacles → crust → sight
It would cost £10billion to build a new one.
asserted
It → cost → one
Her ship’s company endured 260 days at sea without a real break.
asserted
company → endure → break
There wasn’t enough food, plumbing turned mouldy, sailors had to queue for hours for scarce soap and toothpaste, there were even rumours that desperate sailors had jumped overboard.
asserted
sailors → be → soap
Officially, one ‘fell’.
asserted
one → fall → ?
I know very well that warships in wartime can get pretty battered, and rations can get low.
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rations → know → wartime
But Mr Trump’s floating airbase hasn’t been tossing about on the stormy High Seas fending off air and submarine attacks from a dangerous enemy.
asserted
airbase → float → enemy
I suspect the reason for her problems is a thing we haven’t heard much about.
asserted
we → suspect → much
This is one of many ways in which the Trump war against Iran has not gone according to plan.
uncertain
war → go → Iran
Iranian missiles have done about £300million of damage, and the US Navy has more or less abandoned the blasted ruins, with no plans to go back.
asserted
Navy → do → plans
This is the sort of thing that happens to badly led countries which think they are more powerful than they are, and is a sign of physical decay, bad strategy and bad leadership.
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they → happen → decay
The USS Abraham Lincoln... her ship’s company endured 260 days at sea without a real break
Make of this what you will.
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you → endure → this
You might contrast it with Mr Trump’s recent slippery musings about the Falklands, which sort of suggest that we needn’t turn to him for help if Buenos Aires has another go at grabbing them.
uncertain
Aires → contrast → them
What a daft waste of time and energy and goodwill it was for King Charles to go to the White House and suck up to Mr Trump.
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Charles → go → Trump
Months later I still can’t find out where the Palace found that suspiciously large, elegant and well-preserved brass bell from the long-scrapped submarine HMS Trump.
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Palace → find → submarine
However they found it – if ‘found’ is the right word – was it worth the effort?
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it → find → it
It’s patriotic to oppose a Russian war
I have a question for many members of the political class and the national media.
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I → ’ → class
If this country was, in fact, a one-party state in which only one opinion was officially allowed, how would your behaviour be different from what it is now?
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it → allow → which
Yet how many of you have seriously examined the facts and history of the dispute?
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many → examine → dispute
The tendency to dismiss any dissent as treachery (Putin apologist! Lord Haw Haw! etc) is totalitarian and despotic, driving such dissent to the margins.
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tendency → dismiss → margins
It is perfectly possible to oppose British involvement in a conflict with Russia, on the simple patriotic grounds that it will harm this country more than it helps it.
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it → oppose → it
Many things distress me about the death of Dr Mark Deakin, the Letby case witness recently found unconscious in his car, after being sacked.
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things → distress → car
The medical journalist Dr Phil Hammond writes about him: ‘If all NHS staff were sacked for sharing information about patients they cared for in confidence, there wouldn’t be many still working.’
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they → write → confidence
Charles jumps in with both feet
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Charles → jump → feet
Long years ago I went to visit the Bayeux Tapestry in that lovely Normandy town, one of the very few places near the D-Day invasion beaches which wasn’t smashed to bits in the war.
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which → go → war
That is because the allies captured it so swiftly.
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allies → capture → it
But I can remember almost nothing of the embroidery itself.
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I → remember → embroidery
The thing that stays in my mind is the extraordinary British war cemetery nearby, full of the men who helped to save the world in another very different invasion.
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who → stay → invasion
Mrs Hitchens and I moved, ever more slowly, from grave to grave, utterly humbled by the extraordinary youth of many of those who died so we could come along later and live our easy lives – and also by the brief and intensely sad inscriptions.
uncertain
we → move → inscriptions
I suppose I had better go and see the exhibition.
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I → suppose → exhibition
But I do wish the King would stop saying how long it is in metres.
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it → wish → metres
As my Daily Mail colleague Robert Hardman has pointed out, it was made in feet and inches.
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it → point → feet
And wasn’t one of the things our fathers fought for again and again the Britishness of Britain and the Englishness of England?
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Britishness → fight → England
