Pentagon Set to Send Another Carrier To Mideast

 

“The Pentagon has told a second aircraft carrier strike group to prepare to deploy to the Middle East as the U.S. military prepares for a potential attack on Iran, three U.S. officials said.

 

President Trump said on Tuesday that he was weighing sending a second carrier to the Middle East to prepare for military action if negotiations with Iran failed. The order to deploy could be issued in a matter of hours, one of the officials said.

 

The officials cautioned that Trump hadn't yet given an official order to deploy the second carrier, and that plans could change. The carrier would join aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln that is already in the region.

 

One of the officials said the Pentagon was readying a carrier to deploy in two weeks, likely from the U.S. East Coast. The aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush is completing a series of training exercises off the coast of Virginia, and it could potentially expedite those exercises, officials said.

 

The warship can launch and recover strike, electronic attack and reconnaissance aircraft. That includes carrier versions of the F-35 Lightning stealth fighter, according to a Navy official. The Wall Street Journal has previously reported any military strike inside Iran would likely use stealth aircraft, such as F-35 or F-22 Raptor jet fighters.

 

Trump met on Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House to discuss Iran negotiations. Details regarding a potential second round of talks with Iran have yet to be ironed out, officials said.

 

Trump said in a social-media post after the meeting that he preferred to make a deal with Iran.

 

The Navy declined to comment on the carrier movement due to operational security concerns. White House and Pentagon spokespeople didn't respond to requests for comment.

 

After pulling back from attacking Iran in retaliation for a brutal crackdown on protesters in mid-January, Trump has asked the military for more "decisive" options, The Wall Street Journal reported.” [1]

 

1. World News: Pentagon Set to Send Another Carrier To Mideast. Seligman, Lara; Holliday, Shelby; Weisgerber, Marcus.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 12 Feb 2026: A7.