WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 -- Eight sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln attempted suicide during the warship's 286-day deployment to the Middle East, the acting Secretary of the Navy confirmed in a letter to Congress on Wednesday, contradicting months of dismissals from Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth, who had branded such reports "fake news."

The letter, sent by Acting Secretary Hung Cao to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is the first official accounting of a mental health crisis aboard one of America's most storied aircraft carriers. The Lincoln departed California in November 2025 and was rerouted into the Persian Gulf weeks before the United States and Israel began striking Iran in late February 2026. It...