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Where Are America’s Aircraft Carriers Now?
By Extra Extra Editorial
Cross-spectrum analysis, synthesized with AI from 12 sources · Updated
President Trump has ordered the U.S. Navy to replace electromagnetic aircraft catapults on its newest carriers with older steam-powered systems. The electromagnetic catapults, known as EMALS, were installed on modern carriers including the USS Gerald R. Ford as part of a technological modernization effort. Trump has publicly criticized the electromagnetic system for years, citing reliability concerns and cost overruns. The directive represents a significant reversal in naval technology strategy, requiring substantial retrofitting work and expenditure. The order comes amid reports of operational challenges on deployed carriers, including crew welfare concerns on the USS Lincoln.
Left-leaning outlets frame this as an economically wasteful reversal that abandons proven modern technology in favor of outdated systems. They emphasize the financial burden of the switch and connect it to broader concerns about crew conditions and carrier readiness, suggesting the decision prioritizes ideology over operational effectiveness. The coverage often highlights Trump's long-standing opposition to the electromagnetic system as a personal crusade rather than a strategic assessment. These sources tend to question the rationale for abandoning newer technology and focus on the costs and disruption involved.
Center-focused coverage treats the decision as part of a broader set of unresolved technical and operational challenges facing the carrier fleet. These sources present the electromagnetic catapult issues as genuine engineering problems requiring solutions, without necessarily endorsing either the old or new approach. The framing emphasizes the practical difficulties in implementing any major system change and the time required for resolution.
Right-leaning outlets present the order more neutrally as a policy decision to address documented problems with the electromagnetic system. The coverage tends to accept Trump's stated rationale about reliability and cost without extensive critical examination. These sources frame the shift as a pragmatic correction rather than a reversal, focusing on the decision itself rather than its broader implications.
Key Differences
- Left outlets emphasize financial waste and abandonment of modern technology; right outlets present it as correcting a flawed system
- Left coverage connects the decision to crew welfare and operational readiness concerns; center and right coverage treats it more as an isolated technology policy decision
- Left sources question Trump's judgment and consistency; right sources accept the stated technical rationale with minimal scrutiny
How this story is being covered
Extra Extra has grouped 12 reports on this story from 11 news outlets across the political spectrum. By political lean, that breaks down as 7 left-leaning, 2 center, and 3 right-leaning sources.
With a coverage-diversity score of 87 out of 100, this is one of the more evenly reported stories in our index right now — left, center, and right outlets are all giving it attention.
On reliability, 7 of the 11 rated outlets carry a high or mostly-factual reliability rating (A or B) and 4 outlets fall into our mixed or lower-reliability tier (C or D). Ratings are drawn from independent assessments and are meant to help you weigh each report, not to tell you which to trust.
Coverage of this story has developed over roughly 26 hours, so the perspectives below capture how the framing shifted as the story matured.
Below, the same story is laid out side by side as left, center, and right outlets reported it. Read across the columns and watch what changes: the headline emphasis, which facts lead, the adjectives, and what each side leaves out. The story itself rarely changes — the framing almost always does.
Outlets covering this story: The Week, ABC News, HuffPost, The Independent, Rolling Stone, Truthout, Business Insider, Forbes, Breaking Defense, The National Interest, Just the News.
Left(7)
The WeekBAug 14, 2:56 PM
US to swap out aircraft carrier strained by Iran war
There have been widespread reports of poor conditions on the USS Abraham Lincoln
ABC NewsBAug 14, 6:44 AM
Trump orders the Navy to return to an older system of launching jets off aircraft carriers
President Donald Trump is ordering the U.S. Navy to remove the advanced system used to launch fighter jets from its newest type of aircraft carriers and return to using older steam catapults that he h
HuffPostCAug 13, 9:10 PM
New Aircraft Carrier Heads Toward Mideast After Reports Of Issues On Long-Deployed USS Lincoln
The Pacific-based aircraft carrier USS George Washington has begun heading toward the Middle East as reports have emerged of mental health and supply issues aboard the long-deployed USS Abraham Lincol
The IndependentBAug 14, 6:31 PM
Trump claims reports that families are worried about man-overboard aircraft carrier Lincoln crew are lies
‘No, they’re not,’ president snaps after reporters press him on reports of attempted suicides aboard Nimitz-class carrier
Rolling StoneCAug 13, 4:41 PM
Sailors Are Reportedly Trying to Go Overboard to Escape Squalid Conditions on Aircraft Carrier
Democrats are demanding answers about what’s going on with the USS Abraham Lincoln
TruthoutCAug 14, 4:59 PM
Trump Spending Billions to Revert Aircraft Carriers to Steam Catapults
Trump has long hated the modern electromagnetic catapults, seemingly because he simply doesn’t understand how they work.
Business InsiderBAug 14, 3:21 PM
Trump's been railing against the electromagnetic catapults on the Navy's newest carriers for years. Now, he's pushing a return to steam.
Trump's memo comes months after the Navy said the Ford's new launch and landing systems helped it launch aircraft faster than Nimitz-class carriers. US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd
Center(2)
ForbesBAug 14, 5:48 PM
The US Navy’s Aircraft Carrier Troubles Can’t Be Fixed Quickly Enough
The United States has just 11 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in service, but just three are currently deployed, and two are already in the Middle East
Breaking DefenseBAug 13, 9:49 PM
Trump orders return of steam catapults on carriers, fifth public shipyard
The memo also called for the establishment of a new component repair center in an attempt to reduce submarine repair delays.
Right(3)
The National InterestBAug 14, 3:45 PM
Where Are America’s Aircraft Carriers Now?
Although the US Navy has 11 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in active service, only around half are deployed at any given time—with the rest in port or undergoing maintenance. The post Where Are Ame
Just the NewsCAug 14, 12:00 AM
Trump orders Navy to replace magnetic catapults on aircraft carriers with steam-powered ones
Trump has been critical of the technology as far back as his first term, claiming the newer systems lack the power of the older steam-powered launchers.
The National InterestBAug 14, 5:00 PM
Why Is Trump Trying to Tear Out the US Navy’s Modern Aircraft Catapults?
Electromagnetic catapults are superior in nearly every way to the older steam-powered ones, and most of the early problems with them have already been worked out. But Trump likes steam. The post Why I
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