Trump shrugs off USS Lincoln crisis, says deployment 'not nearly long enough'

[0:00] Good evening from New York. I'm Antonia Hilton in tonight for Chris Hayes. [0:04] Every day, the immense financial and moral costs of Donald Trump's war come into sharper and sharper [0:10] view. All week long, we've been telling you about the saga of the USS Abraham Lincoln, [0:15] one of the biggest symbols of American military might, whose 5,000 sailors and Marines are in [0:22] crisis. At war and at sea since last November, their tour extended twice. No port calls, [0:30] no land. Families tell MSNOW the crew has gone hungry, without showers or mail, basic toiletries [0:38] or hot water or drinkable water for long, long stretches, as the fleet can't keep up with the [0:44] increased logistics of an open-ended war. And many service members are in a mental health crisis. [0:50] Multiple Lincoln sailors have jumped or attempted to jump overboard. The wife of one showed MSNOW [0:56] a text in which her husband wrote in the days before he jumped, [1:01] the boat is finally getting to me. The mother of another sailor told MSNOW that the problem is not [1:07] the ship, it's their leaders. What I want people to know is, is how would you feel if that was your [1:15] kid over there, right? And I've heard people say this about Trump and his son. Send your son over [1:20] there if this is all okay to you. And I don't disagree with them. How would you feel if that [1:25] was your son over there? How would you feel if this was you over there? Where is the president [1:30] on all of this? Yesterday, we heard from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who denied there were any [1:36] problems on board the Lincoln. A claim directly undercut, by the way, by the fact the Navy prepared [1:41] to redirect another aircraft carrier, the USS George Washington, from its station in the Pacific [1:47] to relieve the Lincoln. A move that will then mean that the U.S. has no carriers left behind in the [1:52] Pacific for the foreseeable future. So every choice, big and small, made by this administration in the [1:58] midst of this war comes with a cost. Have those costs registered with Hegseth's boss, the commander [2:06] in chief, though. Trump hasn't been as eager as usual to perform for reporters and the cameras in recent [2:11] weeks. And perhaps that's because he gets questions about this war any time he gets in [2:17] front of a mic. Remember, people around him say that he's been getting bored with this war that he [2:22] started. Earlier this week, he was telling Axios that he's, quote, low-keying it. But today, today on [2:29] the tarmac, Trump stopped in front of the cameras to talk up the economy, and he could not avoid a [2:34] reporter's questions about the U.S.S. Lincoln. [3:08] Not nearly long enough, says the president. Hegseth, indicating a military blockade of Iranian [3:21] ports could go on indefinitely. The thing is, ships require maintenance. Munitions get depleted and [3:28] destroyed. Sailors, human beings, need to go home. So you have to ask, does this president care about [3:35] the costs? Or does he only care about getting something that resembles a win, or at least the [3:40] fantasy version of a win that exists in his mind, which he shared on stage, by the way, at a political [3:45] rally in Long Island today? And after we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated, [3:56] pretty soon I'll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States. [4:11] Pretty soon, until then, whenever that is, well, Trump has other priorities for now. Today, [4:17] his solicitor general made an emergency plea to the Supreme Court to let the Trump ballroom [4:21] construction move forward in a filing that described the structure as an integrated military [4:26] complex, vitally required by national security. It also cited a Trump post promising his ballroom [4:33] would be, quote, one of the most beautiful of its kind anywhere in the country. More vital than, [4:39] say, making sure the crew of the Abraham Lincoln has food and clean living quarters? Trump may not [4:45] show much interest in the plight of his service members, but at some point, something has got to give. [4:51] Because remember, the Iran war is only part of a much bigger picture. The Trump administration is [4:58] stretching the American military across the globe, asking them to do more for longer in more places [5:03] with fewer rules and constraints with no need often for justification from striking boats in the [5:09] Caribbean and the Pacific to invading a sovereign country and kidnapping their president, all to [5:14] dominate this hemisphere. Earlier this week, the State Department posted a five minute long video [5:20] praising the Monroe Doctrine with the tagline, American dominance in the Western Hemisphere [5:26] will never be questioned again. And the next day, Hexeth was publicly planning joint strikes on armed [5:33] groups in Colombia. When trouble happens, like in Colombia or Venezuela, we're the first ones to show [5:41] up. We're going to bring those beautiful Chinooks and C-70s chock full of experts and supplies. And that's [5:49] what we've done in Colombia. And that's what we've done in Venezuela. But Colombia is going to be [5:51] incredible partners. There is a lot going on here. But perhaps this is what it looks and sounds like [5:59] when your military is materially drained, but your leadership is completely morally unconstrained. [6:05] And all the usual limiting mechanisms like your members of Congress, international law, [6:11] they're at best an afterthought and aside as Trump plows ahead on a range of pursuits from the Persian [6:17] Gulf to the Panama Canal and maybe soon Cuba. This administration is acting as though [6:22] American military prowess has no physical or legal limits, even though our military and more [6:28] importantly, the people who comprise it absolutely do. David Shulkin is a physician who served as [6:36] Secretary of Veteran Affairs in the first Trump administration and is undersecretary of Veterans [6:41] Affairs for health under President Obama. And he joins us now. Mr. Secretary, it's good to see you this [6:47] evening. I want to begin with your broad take on what is happening to the thousands of service [6:54] members aboard the USS Lincoln right now. Well, look, it's very difficult to watch this. And we all [7:03] need to take this seriously. The conditions in which our men and women are serving not only on the [7:09] U.S. Abraham Lincoln, 5,000 sailors, but frankly, 50,000 of our military are deployed in the contact [7:15] zones and the conflict that's in the Middle East. All of them are experiencing a new type of warfare, [7:23] the warfare of missiles and of drones. And that really is taking a toll on our military members. [7:29] And these prolonged deployments are of significant concern. So we need to take this seriously. We need [7:36] to get in there and make an assessment. And for those that are suffering, we need to be able to get them [7:42] out of that area and get the help that they need. But action is definitely required. We also have [7:50] frankly seen this before in the Iraq and Afghanistan war. We know that 15 to 25 percent of those who [7:57] served in those conflict areas come back and eventually will experience a behavioral health [8:02] issue and some of them extremely serious, leading to people taking their own lives. [8:07] So what do you imagine the family members, the loved ones of these service members feel and hear [8:15] when the president says something standing on that tarmac like he did earlier today, [8:19] saying that this deployment was not nearly long enough? [8:22] Yeah, when I listen to the family members and we hear from them, I really take that seriously. [8:31] One of the things that you have to understand when a son or daughter, husband, wife, brother, [8:37] or sister are serving, it's really that whole family that's serving. And this type of concern [8:42] for the family member is with people all day long. And I have spent lots of time with these [8:49] family members. These are patriotic families that want to support their service member who is [8:55] volunteering and sacrificing for the country, but they want to see them being safe and they don't [9:00] want to see them suffering. So I think that hearing from these family members that are generally [9:06] among the most supportive and patriotic of our missions, particularly overseas, when we hear [9:13] them showing this type of concern, we need to take that seriously. [9:18] I want you to take a listen to a White House spokesperson who spoke on Fox earlier about all [9:23] this because of the way in which this administration, chiefly the president himself and Hegseth seem to [9:29] just be brushing off, even at times outright denying what service members are coming forward and [9:34] telling the press. Take a listen to this. Is the president concerned that these sailors and [9:41] these ships are staying at sea far longer than they normally do? [9:45] Well, John, I think this president cares about our United States military service members, [9:49] our troops more than everybody. Remember Joe Biden, who unfortunately shifted the focus on our [9:54] warfare away from our warfighters and not to these woke DEI policies. [9:57] So you hear the spokesperson there going back to the Biden administration, bringing up DEI, [10:04] which I don't think has anything to do with what's unfolding here and the needs of the service [10:08] members and their families aboard this ship right now. Does this administration, does the Pentagon [10:14] owe people a more direct answer about what they're going to do for them? [10:20] Yeah. Well, I've had the privilege of talking directly to President Trump, to President Biden, [10:28] to President Obama and other presidents who have been commander in chief. And I have to tell you, [10:33] I think almost to the every single one of them does honor and respect and know the sacrifice of [10:39] our men and women. But I do think that the White House needs to acknowledge the conditions and that [10:45] we can be doing more to support our sailors and those who are in this conflict zone. And I think we [10:51] heard that from the secretary of the Navy, who came out and acknowledged some of the shortcomings [10:56] and acknowledged that we need to be doing more, they are going to be sending more resilience [11:01] counselors. They are sending a new aircraft carrier to try to relieve the U.S. Abraham Lincoln. And so [11:09] it is important to be able to make sure that you're listening and hearing from those that are serving [11:15] and making sure that you're acknowledging and acting in order to respond to what is a pretty serious [11:23] situation. Yeah, it's an incredibly serious situation. And I want to push on on one thing [11:28] there. You know, I understand you've spoken to all of these presidents and, you know, Americans across [11:34] the board, across the political spectrum, have immense respect for the sacrifice that service members [11:39] and their family members make. But I think people are wondering right now about this administration, [11:46] just how seriously they do see that sacrifice when we've seen throughout the week, [11:50] them being unwilling to grapple with the gravity here, at times denying claims that service members [11:56] were even attempting to jump overboard, something that numerous news outlets, including us here at [12:01] MS Now, we've been able to talk to people and confirm that these mental health crises are real. [12:05] And so I guess when you see this administration and their actions in recent days, do you get the sense [12:11] that they just don't actually know the facts? They don't know the truth and that's why they're having [12:16] trouble acknowledging it? Or is there some sense in which they don't care? [12:21] Yeah, I do think that this administration recognizes the seriousness, particularly of behavioral health [12:32] issues. But I think that they're struggling with trying to acknowledge that publicly and wanting to show [12:39] strength, you know, especially to our enemies. But the most important thing that one can do [12:46] to support our men and women and to keep that readiness and morale up there is to acknowledge [12:52] and be transparent about not only what's going on and what's the current situation, [12:57] but what are you going to do to respond to that? How are you going to be there to support? And I think [13:03] that there is an opportunity for the administration to step up and to demonstrate that commitment, [13:08] which I do believe is there. But right now, if you're a seller or anybody else serving in [13:16] in that in the under these tough conditions, that's what you need to hear, you need to hear leaders [13:21] that are connected to the current situation, and leaders that are willing to acknowledge problems [13:26] that when they exist and what they're going to do about it. And I think all of this coverage is [13:32] actually important to be able to get the American public to show that support as well. [13:38] So I think all of the things that I'm going to do about it, that's what I'm going to call.