Donald Trump claimed he had third-hand reports that the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln is “beautifully maintained” despite extensive accounts of deteriorating living conditions during its lengthy deployment in the strait of Hormuz.

At the White House on Monday, the president berated Kristen Holmes, a CNN reporter, at a press availability, insisting that she “be quiet” and describing the reporting as fake news.

“The Lincoln has been out there for a period of time – a good period of time – but over the years, we’ve had them out there much longer,” Trump said, describing an exchange with a veteran, whom he did not name, over the weekend.

“He happened to be an admiral, retired. He said, ‘I’ve been on ships that are out there much longer than that, sir. And I know people on the Lincoln, they say it’s beautifully maintained and beautifully taken care of.’ And other people went out and they found out that to be true,” said Trump. “It was fake news reporting from CNN.”

President Donald Trump said Sunday that he has directed the Defense Department to scale down joint military exercises with South Korea, citing the U.S. ally’s refusal to join the war in Iran and his “very good” relationship with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.

Trump said the large, annual military drills sent a “signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile” to North Korea, a nuclear-armed state with which the U.S. has no formal diplomatic ties but which Trump says has been “unthreatening and respectful” as long as he has been president.

“Based on the fact that it is too late to cancel, I have instructed Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to substantially reduce the Joint Military Exercises!” Trump wrote on social media. His announcement came just hours before the drills were set to start.

Trump also mentioned South Korea’s refusal to join the Iran war.

“While somewhat unrelated (?), I recently asked the President of South Korea if they would like to join us in the Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, ‘No thanks!’” Trump wrote.

The Navy’s newest Gerald R. Ford-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier completed acceptance sea trials Saturday, inching the ship closer to its scheduled 2027 delivery.

The USS John F. Kennedy successfully concluded the testing period on Saturday after departing from Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia on Wednesday, according to a release from the shipbuilder.

The Kennedy was launched on Oct. 29, 2019, christened on Dec. 7, 2019, and is the second vessel named after President John F. Kennedy.

The new carrier is 1,092 feet long and weighs 100,000 tons. Its overall procurement cost was $13.2 billion, a December 2025 CRS report indicated.

The ship has been plagued by delays since it was christened on Dec. 7, 2019, with an initial delivery slated for July 2025.

The latest setback was due “to support completion of Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) certification and continued Advanced Weapons Elevator (AWE) work,” according to the Navy’s FY2026 budget documents.