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Donald J. Trump deployed a “massive fleet” toward the Persian Gulf. Trump confirmed the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group, with F-35C and F/A-18 jets, is steaming to the Gulf of Oman, joined by more warships and air defenses. He claimed his threat stopped Iran from executing 837 young protesters, but Iran’s prosecutor called that completely false, insisting no such hangings were planned. The moves come amid nationwide unrest with thousands dead—over 4,700 per activists, around 3,100 per Iranian media—and both nations positioning forces in the Gulf.

The USS Abraham Lincoln is a nuclear-powered behemoth—1,092 feet long, carrying 70 aircraft, capable of launching jets to 150 mph in just two seconds, and able to remain at sea for more than 20 years without refueling.

John Spencer: When the U.S. deploys an aircraft carrier like USS Abraham Lincoln, it’s not “sending a ship.”
It’s deploying a Carrier Strike Group — a mobile, self-contained joint combat force.

What that actually includes as a minimum:

• ~5,000 sailors on the carrier + air wing
• ~1,500–2,000 sailors across cruisers, destroyers & logistics ships
• The aircraft carrier (floating, nuclear-powered air base)
• 65–75 aircraft (fighters, EW, AEW, helicopters)
• 1 guided-missile cruiser, usually a Ticonderoga-class cruiser, (air & missile defense commander)
• 2–3 guided-missile destroyers, usually Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, (Anti-submarine warfare, Ballistic missile defense, strike capability)
• Nuclear attack submarine (ISR & strike…unannounced locations)
• Logistics ships enabling months at sea

This means:

– Air dominance without host-nation bases.
– Immediate strike and escalation control.
– Layered defense against air, missile, surface, and subsurface threats.

A Carrier Strike Group is not symbolism. It is sovereign, mobile combat power….ready on arrival.

Speaking after the World Economic Forum, Trump downplayed imminent military action but kept all options open following U.S. involvement alongside Israel in June’s 12-day conflict targeting Iran’s nuclear and missile programs. The standoff continues amid sharp rhetoric, warnings from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, recent unrest inside Iran crushed by a deadly crackdown and internet blackout, and Trump’s reiterated threat of overwhelming retaliation if Iran targets him.

https://x.com/TheReal_RX/status/2013658388811387152?s=20

Trump says US ‘armada’ headed toward Gulf

By: African Insider, Jnauary 23, 2026:

Washington – President Donald Trump said a US “armada” was heading toward the Gulf and that Washington was watching Iran closely, even after downplaying the prospect of imminent military action and saying Tehran appeared interested in talks.

Trump has repeatedly left open the option of new military action against Iran after Washington backed and joined Israel’s 12-day war in June aimed at degrading Iranian nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.The prospect of immediate American action seemed to recede in recent days, with both sides insisting on giving diplomacy a chance.On his way back from the World Economic Forum in Davos, the president told reporters on Air Force One the United States was sending a “massive fleet” toward Iran “just in case.”
“We’re watching Iran,” he said. “I’d rather not see anything happen but we’re watching them very closely.”

Addressing the WEF on Thursday, Trump said the United States attacked Iranian uranium enrichment sites last year to prevent Tehran from making a nuclear weapon. Iran denies its nuclear programme is aimed at seeking the bomb.

“Can’t let that happen,” Trump said, adding: “And Iran does want to talk, and we’ll talk.”

The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards had also warned Washington Thursday that the force had its “finger on the trigger.”

A fortnight of protests starting in late December shook Iran’s clerical leadership under supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but the movement has petered out in the face of a crackdown that activists say killed thousands, accompanied by an unprecedented internet blackout.

Last week, Trump pulled back from a threat to strike Iran over its deadly crackdown on the protests after the White House said Tehran had halted planned executions of demonstrators.

In a standoff marked by seesawing rhetoric, Trump had on Tuesday warned Iran’s leaders the United States would “wipe them off the face of this Earth” if there was any attack on his life in response to a strike targeting Khamenei.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in a speech Thursday accused the United States and Israel of stoking the protests as a “cowardly revenge… for the defeat in the 12-Day War”.



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