Trump’s decision to send aircraft carrier to South America will leave Mideast, Europe with none

Washington: President Donald Trump’s decision to shift the nation’s most advanced aircraft carrier to South America in his campaign against drug cartels is pulling the ship out of the Mediterranean Sea at a time when a tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has been threatened by new strikes in Gaza.

The US is set to be in the fairly unusual position of having only a single aircraft carrier deployed and none in the waters off both Europe and the Middle East. The change is especially stark after the US joined Israeli strikes on Iran in June and has engaged in some of the most intense combat operations since World War II against Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the Red Sea.

Aircraft carriers, with their thousands of sailors and dozens of warplanes, have long been recognised as one of the ultimate signifiers of US military might and the nation’s foreign policy priorities. There have been five carrier deployments to the Middle East since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, including two carriers in the region at multiple points this year and last.

The new orders for the USS Gerald R. Ford illustrate the Trump administration’s increasing focus on the Western Hemisphere and mark a major escalation of firepower as the US military ramps up fatal strikes on alleged drug boats. With a buildup of warships, aircraft and troops already in the region, Trump himself has signalled what

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