Trouble mounting for Iran? Second US aircraft carrier dispatched by Trump admin to Middle East: Report

Hours after US President Donald Trump on Thursday warned Iran of “very traumatic” consequences if it fails to make a nuclear deal, his administration reportedly ordered the world's largest aircraft carrier to sail from the Caribbean Sea to the Middle East.

There has been no official comment from the White House yet.

The move by the USS Gerald R. Ford, first reported by The New York Times, will put two carriers and their accompanying warships in the region as Trump increases pressure on Iran to make a deal over its nuclear programme, the Associated Press reported.

The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and three guided-missile destroyers arrived in the Middle East more than two weeks ago.

It marks a quick turnaround for the USS Ford, which Trump sent from the Mediterranean Sea to the Caribbean last October as the administration built up a huge military presence in the lead-up to the surprise raid last month that captured then-Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

It also appears to be at odds with Trump's national security strategy, which puts an emphasis on the Western Hemisphere over other parts of the world.

Trump told Axios earlier in the week that he was considering sending a second carrier strike group to the Middle East.

The USS Ford set out on deployment in late June 2025, which means the crew will have been deployed for eight months in two weeks' time. While it is unclear how long the ship will remain in the Middle East, the move sets the crew up for an unusually long deployment.

'It's going to be very traumatic if…'

Trump threatened Iran Thursday with "very traumatic" consequences if it fails to make a nuclear deal. "We have to make a deal, otherwise it's going to be very traumatic, very traumatic. I don't want that to happen, but we have to make a deal," Trump said.

“This will be very traumatic for Iran if they don't make a deal,” he added.

Trump referenced the US military strikes he ordered on Tehran's nuclear facilities during Israel's 12-day war with Iran in July last year, saying, “They should have made a deal the first time, then they got Midnight Hammer instead.”