Feb. 13 (UPI) -- The U.S. military is sending the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world's largest aircraft carrier, to the Middle East as tensions with Tehran over its nuclear program ratchet up, President Donald Trump confirmed Friday.
Trump told reporters he's sending the vessel because if the United States and Iran doesn't "make a deal, we'll need it," The Hill reported.
The vessel and its supporting warships, which are in the Caribbean, will join the USS Abraham Lincoln in a trek that's expected to take about three to four weeks, The Guardian reported.
"We have an armada that is heading there and another one might be going," Trump said in an interview with Axios on Tuesday.
An unnamed official said Trump made the decision to send the USS Gerald R. Ford to the Middle East after his Thursday meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
