Trump’s military disrespect hits new low — and troops are finally revolting

Members of the military wait for President Donald Trump to arrive for a meeting convened by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, at Marine Corps Base Quantico, in Quantico, Virginia, September 30, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

The fiasco surrounding the USS Abraham Lincoln has seen President Donald Trump's disrespect for the military reach new lows, and according to a report from The New Republic, some troops have finally had enough and are letting their disgust be known.

In recent weeks, reports have emerged revealing the alarming conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, a vessel that has been stationed in the Middle East since November and is nearing the record for the longest ever deployment, set back in the Vietnam War. Aboard the ship, troops and officers are reportedly dealing with worsening food and resource shortages, as well as deteriorating physical conditions, with some areas becoming infested with mold. Driven to extreme desperation, some troops have also reportedly attempted to jump overboard to escape the conditions onboard.

When pressed about these stories, Trump and his officials have largely been dismissive. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the conditions on the Abraham Lincoln were an old story, and claimed that they have already been addressed. Trump, meanwhile, said that the reports were a "fake CNN story." He also insisted that the Abraham Lincoln had not been deployed long enough when asked if its deployment had gone on too long.

In a Saturday piece for The New Republic, deputy editor Jason Linkins connected this latest disrespect towards the military to other emerging reports about troops leaving "anonymous graffiti" messages ripping the ongoing Iran war, written into the dust left on an aircraft wing flap. Among the messages left were “Operation Epstein Fury,” “Peace deal #64 incoming … ALL THIS FOR THE HOLY LAND,” and other insults implying Trump's subservience to Israeli leaders.

"Whether these sentiments are new is indeed unclear, but it’s not without a frame of reference," Linkins wrote. "Trump has always been fairly explicit in his disrespect for the grunts who do most of the work—and all of the dying—in this racket that we call 'war.' But only now is a seemingly unwinnable war bringing this all to a head. It’s no longer possible to pretend that the president doesn’t have boundless contempt for U.S. service members. They’re trapped in a war that was essentially kicked off to distract from all the other terrible news the Trump administration generates—or at least to turn attention away from the Epstein files. (Though if these dust etchings are any guide, Trump failed in this attempt to wag the dog.)"

He added later: "As it happens, this trouble is not confined to the USS Lincoln: Crews on the USS Benfold, Carl Vinson, and Tripoli have also reported miserable conditions in recent weeks. Pete Hegseth, our self-styled 'secretary of war,' has gone to great lengths to downplay and even deny these accounts, characterizing them as misrepresentations while covering up the reason the Lincoln, which is now finally coming home, wasn’t resupplied. The dust scribbles ... tell a different story."

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