With a second aircraft carrier deployment, Trump raises the stakes with Iran

Asked if he wants regime change in Iran, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters on Friday (February 13, 2026) that it “would be the best thing that could happen”. Mr. Trump, who last month threatened to strike Iran if Iran killed protesters, confirmed that a second aircraft carrier is “going out shortly” to West Asia. “For 47 years, they’ve been talking and talking and talking,” Mr. Trump said. “In the meantime, we’ve lost a lot of lives while they talk. Legs blown off, arms blown off, faces blown off. We’ve been going on for a long time. So, let’s see what happens.” The U.S. has already deployed USS Abraham Lincoln to the Arabian Sea, some 500 km off Iran’s Persian Gulf coast. On Friday (February 13, 2026), officials told U.S. media that the second carrier going to the region would be USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier. Ford is currently in the Caribbean where it was deployed before Mr. Trump’s January 3 attack on Venezuela and the abduction of its President, Nicolas Maduro. The last time West Asian waters had two aircraft carriers was in June 2025 when the U.S. joined Israel to bomb Iran during the 12-day war. Mr. Trump’s decision to send a second carrier to West Asia came close on the heels of his meeting, in Washington, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Mr. Netanyahu, who was scheduled to travel to the U.S. later this month, moved up his trip after the U.S. held talks with Iran in Muscat, Oman, on February 6. While there was no breakthrough in the talks, both sides agreed to continue the discussion. Mr. Trump, who initially said he would strike Iran over its crackdown on protests, later switched his focus to Iran’s nuclear programme, which he claimed to have “obliterated” in the June strike. Recently, he has repeatedly warned that Iran would face “profound consequences” if it did not agree to a deal with the U.S. Tehran says it is ready to talk about its nuclear programme, but only about the nuclear programme. Israel, on the other hand, has demanded that any deal between the U.S. and Iran should also address the latter’s ballistic missile capability and its support for militia groups in the region such as Hamas, Houthis and Hezbollah. While diplomats are set to continue talks, the U.S. is building a warlike military presence in the region. Besides the Lincoln strike group with its air wing including F/A-18E Super Hornets, F-35C Lightning Iis and EA-18G Growlers, the Pentagon has also sent guided missile destroyers and combat ships to the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Strait of Hormuz and Mediterranean. It has also moved some 35 F-15E Strike Eagles to the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, tanker aircraft to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, besides A-10 and MQ-9 drones and electronic warfare aircraft. The U.S. has also deployed additional THAAD and Patriot systems to protect its bases in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Jordan. The U.S. has some 50,000 troops across at least 19 bases in the region. The