U.S. President Donald Trump announced Friday that a second aircraft carrier is being dispatched to the Middle East, escalating the military posture toward Iran amid ongoing negotiations regarding its nuclear program.
“The ship is going to be leaving incredibly soon,” Trump told reporters on February 13, when asked about reports that the USS Gerald R. Ford would be moved from the Caribbean to the Middle East.
“If we don’t craft a deal, we’ll require it,” he stated, according to the AFP news agency on Saturday, February 14, 2026.
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The USS Gerald R. Ford is the world’s largest aircraft carrier.
Washington and Tehran began indirect talks last week concerning the future of Iran’s nuclear program. Trump warned Thursday of “very traumatic” consequences for Iran should a nuclear agreement not be reached.
Late last month, Trump deployed the USS Abraham Lincoln and its accompanying warships to the Persian Gulf, coinciding with a heightened threat posture against Iran over its crackdown on anti-government protests. Those vessels remain in the region.
According to the AFP news agency on Friday, February 13, 2026, the USS Gerald R. Ford and its strike group will join the USS Abraham Lincoln after Pentagon officials ordered it to the Middle East from its current deployment in the Caribbean, several U.S. Media outlets reported.
The USS Gerald R. Ford was initially deployed in June and subsequently redirected to the Caribbean as part of Trump’s pressure campaign against Venezuela, according to the New York Times.
Several fighter jets from the carrier participated in a February 3 operation in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, leading to the arrest of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, the New York Times reported.
The duration of the USS Ford’s or USS Lincoln’s deployment to the Middle East remains unclear.
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