{"id":297011,"date":"2026-02-14T02:31:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T02:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/297011\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T02:31:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T02:31:10","slug":"trump-sends-largest-us-aircraft-carrier-to-middle-east-as-pressure-grows-on-iran-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/297011\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump sends largest US aircraft carrier to Middle East as pressure grows on Iran \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump<\/a> said he was dispatching a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East that could be used for military strikes against Iran<\/a> if negotiations fail with Tehran.<\/p>\n

The US president confirmed the redeployment on Friday after the New York Times reported that the USS Gerald R Ford aircraft carrier strike group was heading to the Middle East from the Caribbean Sea.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn case we don\u2019t make a deal, we\u2019ll need it,\u201d Trump told reporters at the White House before flying to North Carolina to address troops at Fort Bragg, one of the country\u2019s leading military bases. He added that the second aircraft carrier would be \u201cleaving very soon\u201d.<\/p>\n

In January, Trump sent the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier group from the South China Sea to the Middle East as tensions with Iran rose over the regime\u2019s brutal crackdown against pro-democracy protesters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The US already has 10 ships in the region, including the Abraham Lincoln. The Gerald R Ford is the US\u2019s largest and newest aircraft carrier and its strike group includes three destroyers, thousands of troops and dozens of aircraft.<\/p>\n

Washington had two aircraft carrier strike groups positioned in the region when it struck three of Iran\u2019s nuclear facilities last June.<\/p>\n

The US has also shifted more missile defences, along with additional fighter jets, to the Middle East as part of its military build-up.<\/p>\n

But the White House is also holding negotiations with senior Iranian officials to try to find a resolution to their disputes over Tehran\u2019s nuclear programme and its support for regional proxy groups in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

The Gerald R Ford has been in the Caribbean region since last summer as Trump waged his military campaign against alleged drug boats off the coasts of Latin America and raided the Venezuelan<\/a> capital of Caracas to capture its revolutionary socialist strongman leader Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a>.<\/p>\n

US Southern Command, which oversees American operations in Latin America and the Caribbean, said that its ability to act in the region would not be diminished as a result of the Gerald R Ford\u2019s redeployment.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Iran celebrates anniversary of Islamic revolution a month after deadly antiregime protestsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile force posture evolves, our operational capability does not. Southcom forces remain fully ready to project power, defend themselves and protect US interests in the region,\u201d it said, adding that it would \u201ccontinue mission-focused operations to counter illicit activities and malign actors in the Western Hemisphere\u201d.<\/p>\n

US Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the Middle East, and the Pentagon, declined to comment. The White House also declined to comment.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s decision to send a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East came after he hosted Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu<\/a> at the White House for talks on Iran this week.<\/p>\n

Speaking before he flew back from Washington, Netanyahu said he had told Trump he was sceptical \u201cregarding the nature of any agreement with Iran\u201d, and added that, if a deal were reached, it must cover not only Iran\u2019s nuclear programme but \u201calso the ballistic missiles and the Iranian proxies\u201d.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Israeli soldier and citizen accused of using classified information to bet on air strikesOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Trump said he had \u201cinsisted\u201d that the negotiations with Tehran needed to continue despite Israel\u2019s reservations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was nothing definitive reached other than I insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see whether or not a Deal can be consummated. If it can, I let the Prime Minister know that will be a preference. If it cannot, we will just have to see what the outcome will be,\u201d Trump wrote on Truth Social. \u2013 Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Donald Trump said he was dispatching a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East that could be used…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297012,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[10748,969,42,11829,43,40,38,41,39,90],"class_list":{"0":"post-297011","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-binyamin-netanyahu","9":"tag-donald-trump","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-iran","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-top-news","14":"tag-top-stories","15":"tag-topnews","16":"tag-topstories","17":"tag-us"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}