Trump weighs sending second aircraft carrier to Middle East

By Sarah Roderick-Fitch
The Center Square

President Donald Trump is weighing deploying a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East as the U.S. continues talks with Iran over its nuclear program.

Trump commented during an interview with Axios Tuesday, saying he would consider the move if the talks with the Islamic Republic fail.

The president is set to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Wednesday at the White House, marking their seventh meeting since Trump took office over a year ago.

Talks between the U.S. and Iran have been ongoing in Oman since late last week, with tensions between the two nations growing.

Israel is reportedly concerned with not only Iran rebuilding its nuclear program, but also ballistic missiles and support for proxy groups, such as Hamas and Hezbollah.

While Trump won’t commit to whether the U.S. will strike Iran for the second time in less than a year, he continues to hurl threats at the Iranian regime, citing a large armada of American naval ships in the region, which has been growing.

Last week, the State Department warned Americans in the Islamic Republic to leave the country, signaling military actions are on the table if talks with Iran break down.

Last week, Trump said that Iran’s leadership “should be very worried” amid rumors that the talks had hit a snag, which was later rebuffed.

“I’m hearing that Iran wants to restart the new program. If that’s the case, we’ll send the forces to do the job again. They tried to go back to the site, but they couldn’t access it. We discovered that they wanted to open a nuclear site in another part of the country. I said, ‘You do that – we’ll do very bad things to you,’” Trump told NBC News.

The president insists Operation Midnight Hammer, when the U.S. struck Iran’s nuclear sites in June, was a necessary step in pursuing peace in the Middle East.

“If we didn’t take out that nuclear, we wouldn’t have peace in the Middle East, because the Arab countries could’ve never done that. They were very afraid of Iran. They’re not afraid of Iran anymore,” Trump added.

During a press conference at the State Department last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared less optimistic that the U.S. and Iran could reach a deal.

“If the Iranians want to meet, we’re ready…I’m not sure you can reach a deal with these guys, but we’re going to try to find out…This is a president that always prefers a peaceful outcome to any conflict or any challenge,” said Rubio.

The talks come as a large armada of U.S. Naval ships has been and is moving closer to the Islamic Republic. Last week, the U.S. confirmed it had shot down two Iranian drones flying near the USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier sailing in the region.

It is not clear which carrier and strike group would be deployed to join the Lincoln in the Fifth Fleet. Currently, the USS Gerald Ford is deployed to the Caribbean to support counter-narco operations in the region.

Norfolk-homeported USS George H.W. Bush could be among contenders as the U.S. Naval Institute reported earlier in the week that the ship was spotted underway in the Western Atlantic.

The president continues to cite the increasingly significant naval presence in the region, hoping to pressure the Islamic Republic to “make a deal.”

“It is moving quickly, with great power, enthusiasm, and purpose. It is a larger fleet, headed by the great Aircraft Carrier Abraham Lincoln, than that sent to Venezuela. Like Venezuela, it is ready, willing, and able to rapidly fulfill its mission, with speed and violence, if necessary,” Trump previously posted on Truth Social.

The president is calling on Iran to “come to the table and negotiate a fair and equitable deal,” underscoring that the Islamic Republic cease trying to rebuild its nuclear program.