Will Trump's weird obsession break the US Navy? episode artwork

EPISODE · Aug 26, 2026 · 28 MIN

Will Trump's weird obsession break the US Navy?

from If You're Listening · host Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Sailors on the USS Abraham Lincoln have spent more than 250 consecutive days at sea without a single port call, a new US Navy record. Leaked photos show broken toilets and meals of mystery mush, the result of being trapped on the wrong side of Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. But the real story is much bigger. The Navy's next-generation carriers were built around untested electromagnetic catapults that took over a decade and billions more than planned to get working, contributing to a shipbuilding backlog linked to a spike in sailor suicides. Now Donald Trump, who's long hated electric catapults, wants to switch back to old-fashioned steam, a call engineers say could make the mess a whole lot worse.Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Aug 26, 2026

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Will Trump's weird obsession break the US Navy?

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