USS Lincoln finally heads home; Navy may replace Black war hero’s name with Trump on carrier

After a record 272 consecutive days at sea, the USS Abraham Lincoln is finally heading home, while its replacement in the Middle East leaves the U.S. without an aircraft carrier in the Pacific.

Plus, the U.S. has begun deporting people to Liberia even when it isn’t their home country, and five people on the first flight had to be forcibly removed after refusing to leave the plane.

And IndyCar is turning the streets of Washington into a racetrack this weekend, with drivers expected to hit nearly 190 mph as the capital hosts its first-ever race for America’s 250th birthday.

These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Friday, Aug. 21, 2026.

USS Lincoln finally heads home as its replacement leaves the Pacific without a US Aircraft carrier

The USS Abraham Lincoln is finally heading home after spending a record 272 straight days at sea without a port call. Its return follows recent reports raising concerns about conditions aboard the carrier.

The Lincoln and its roughly 5,000 crew members left San Diego on Nov. 21, and the Pentagon extended the deployment in February after the war with Iran began.

By the time the carrier started its journey home Thursday, the crew had spent 272 consecutive days at sea without pulling into port.

The long deployment has drawn attention on Capitol Hill with reports of dwindling food and supplies, strain on sailors’ mental health and at least one man-overboard incident.

The Trump administration disputes most of those claims and says the sailor who went overboard was rescued.

Trump also dismissed concerns about the deployment’s length a few days ago, saying it was “not nearly long enough.”

“That was a CNN fake report. The Lincoln has been out there for a period of time, a good period of time. But over the years we’ve had them out there much longer. I was at a group meeting, and an admiral came up to see me over the weekend, and it was at a big group, and he happened to be an admiral, retired. He said, I’ve been on ships. They’re out there much longer than that, sir. And I know people on the Lincoln. They say it’s beautifully maintained and beautifully taken care of. And other people went out, and they found out to be true. It was fake news reporting from CNN.”

President Donald Trump

The Lincoln is being replaced by the Japan-based USS George Washington, which arrived in the Middle East Wednesday.

But that move creates another issue.

With the George Washington now in the Middle East, there is no U.S. aircraft carrier in the Pacific.

And the Pentagon has not said how long that will last, or how long the George Washington will remain in the Middle East.

US sends first group of ‘third-country’ deportees to Liberia

The Trump administration has sent its first group of so-called “third-country” deportees to Liberia — meaning people deported to a country that is not their own.

About 20 people from different countries landed outside Liberia’s capital, Monrovia, on Thursday.

CBS News reports a small group refused to get off the plane and had to be escorted off by U.S. officials.

They later returned to the plane, and CBS says their whereabouts were not immediately known.

Liberia has agreed to take up to 1,200 third-country deportees from the U.S. over the next year, including people from Africa, North and South America and the Caribbean.

They will be allowed to apply for asylum in Liberia.

Liberia is also where the Trump administration is trying to send Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador last year. He then returned to the U.S. to face human-smuggling charges.

A federal judge has blocked that deportation for now. And in a separate immigration move on Thursday, the U.S. deported more than 160 people to Haiti. They are the first group sent back since the Trump administration won its legal fight to end temporary protected status (TPS) for some 350,000 Haitians.

The group included people who had been protected under TPS, along with other Haitian nationals, including some who had served prison sentences.

FBI seizes Swalwell’s phone, laptop as sexual misconduct investigation ramps up

Federal agents seized former congressman Eric Swalwell’s phone and laptop and searched his Washington home Thursday as a federal investigation into sexual assault allegations against him expands.

The former California Democrat has denied the allegations.

But CNN reported the FBI has contacted four women as part of the investigation.

Federal agents, with a search warrant, confronted Swalwell at San Francisco International Airport last Saturday night.  Court records reported by The New York Times show they seized his iPhone and MacBook.

The next day, agents searched his home in Washington. The Daily Mail first reported the searches on Thursday.

The San Francisco Standard obtained the warrant, filed last week, which cites a federal civil rights law that prohibits public officials from using their authority to deprive someone of constitutional rights.

It’s not yet clear how prosecutors believe that law may apply here.

Swalwell resigned from Congress and dropped out of the California governor’s race in April after several women accused him of sexual misconduct.

One former staffer accused him of raping her in 2024 when she was too intoxicated to consent.

Swalwell has repeatedly denied the allegations.

Trump aide Harp repeatedly declined security clearance process: Report

A White House aide who was barely known outside Washington a week ago is now becoming something of a headache for the White House. Natalie Harp, one of Trump’s closest and most constant aides, is back in the spotlight after new reporting about her security clearance.

Harp is the president’s executive assistant and is frequently at his side, traveling with him, handling the information he sees and helping with his social media posts.

Earlier this week, MS NOW reported that Harp repeatedly declined to complete the routine security clearance process for more than a year. The outlet said she eventually finished the paperwork after concerns were raised inside the White House.

She has since received a clearance.

The White House pushed back, though its response didn’t directly address whether Harp went without a clearance before receiving one.

In a statement, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “Natalie Harp has a security clearance like everyone else, and she is a loyal and hardworking member of President Trump’s team.”

Harp’s name already drew attention this week after Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia took shots at Trump during a campaign speech last weekend, saying the president would rather “build his ballroom and travel with Natalie” than do his job.

The remark prompted a response from the White House, with the president referring to Ossoff as Pee Wee Herman, and there’s now been speculation about Harp’s relationship with Trump.

On Thursday, first lady Melania Trump made her first public appearance in more than a month and had a little fun with the attention surrounding her own absence.

“I heard you missed me. Here I am,” she said.

Navy weighs renaming USS Doris Miller; Trump discussed as possible namesake

The Navy is considering a name change for one of its future aircraft carriers, possibly replacing the name of Black World War II hero Doris Miller with Trump’s. The Ford-class carrier is already under construction and has been scheduled to become the U.S.S. Doris Miller since the Navy announced the name in 2020 during Trump’s first term.

But Navy leaders have been discussing a possible name change for months. NBC News and CNN reported that Trump is among those under consideration.

If the ship keeps Miller’s name, it would become the first U.S. aircraft carrier named for a Black American and the first named for an enlisted sailor.

Miller was a mess attendant aboard the U.S.S. West Virginia when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, a time when Black sailors were largely restricted to service roles. Despite having no training with the anti-aircraft gun, he took over and opened fire on Japanese planes, helping move wounded sailors to safety. He later became the first Black service member to receive the Navy Cross.

Miller was killed in 1943 when enemy forces torpedoed his ship in World War II.

CNN reported that one option under discussion would place Miller’s name on another warship and recommend him for the Medal of Honor. He has been nominated for that award before, but it has never been approved.

Naming the carrier for Trump would make history of a different kind, as no U.S. aircraft carrier has ever been named after a sitting president.

IndyCar takes over DC as drivers race through the capital at nearly 190 mph

Start your engines: IndyCar is taking over the streets of Washington, D.C., this weekend, with drivers racing past some of the country’s most famous landmarks at high speeds.

It’s called the Freedom 250 Grand Prix, part of the celebration of America’s 250th birthday.

The course winds through seven turns along the National Mall, covering 147 laps and 250 miles, making this the first-ever IndyCar race in Washington, D.C. It’s expected to take about three hours to complete and will air live on Fox. And get this: drivers will fly up Pennsylvania Avenue at speeds approaching 190 miles per hour.

Practice and qualifying are Saturday, with the main event Sunday afternoon, starting near the Capitol Reflecting Pool.

Organizers expect about 140,000 people to line the streets for Sunday’s race, which also involves numerous street closures around D.C. Trump will also be there, taking a ceremonial ride ahead of the main event.

The event is costing about $35 million. Roger Penske, the Penske Corporation, and corporate sponsors are helping foot the bill.

Before the engines even start, people in Washington are already split over whether this is a great way to celebrate America’s birthday.

“I personally don’t think it’s a good idea,” said Karen Jarussi, a tourist from Montana. “I think it’s a waste of taxpayer dollars at a time when we aren’t adequately funding education and healthcare and so many other things. And I think it’s kind of a tacky way to celebrate our country’s history and our 250th anniversary. There are many more ways to do that in a more patriotic, celebratory way.”

Meanwhile, D.C. resident Colton Snedecor thinks it’s a “once-in-a-lifetime thing.”

“For us to complain about traffic for a couple of days, to be able to have a full-blown racetrack right in the heart of the city that we all live and love, it’s going to be really exciting, and I can’t wait to see it,” Snedecor said. “But yeah, I think it’s going to be a really cool celebration.”

More from Straight Arrow:

Your M&Ms are changing colors. But are the new natural dyes safe?

M&M’s, Skittles, Starburst and EXTRA gum are set to undergo an “au naturel” makeover this month. 

Mars is rolling out new versions of its best-known confections that no longer include synthetic food dyes, “the colors that have a number behind them,” said Thomas Galligan, principal scientist for food additives and supplements at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. “Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, the big ones. There’s also Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3 and also Red 3.” 

Mars is the latest major food company to shift away from synthetic dyes; the new candies will be available on Amazon by the end of August, according to a company press release. Earlier this month, WK Kellogg announced it would remove them from its cereals — including Froot Loops and Apple Jacks — by the end of 2026. General Mills eliminated the dyes from products it sells to K-12 schools and pledged to remove them from all its U.S. cereals by this summer as well as its entire U.S. retail portfolio by the end of 2027. Kraft Heinz pledged to remove all remaining synthetic colors from its U.S. products by the end of 2027.

The industry-wide change follows Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s push to rid the American food supply of petroleum-based dyes, a cornerstone of his Make America Healthy Again agenda. In April 2025, he and the Food and Drug Administration announced plans to phase out six widely used synthetic dyes, largely through voluntary commitments from food manufacturers rather than outright bans.

For decades, mounting scientific evidence has linked synthetic food dyes to behavioral problems in some children, including increased inattention, restlessness and irritability. Yet the FDA has continued to allow most of the dyes in American foods. While environmental health experts have welcomed the Trump administration’s push to reduce exposure, some argue its voluntary approach doesn’t go far enough. And as manufacturers swap synthetic dyes for colors derived from plants, algae and other natural sources, a new question has emerged: Are the alternatives any safer?

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