ASEAN Beat | Diplomacy | Southeast Asia

US Aircraft Carrier USS George Washington Arrives in Vietnam on Friendship Visit

The port call, the fourth by a U.S. carrier group since 2018, is a sign that relations between Washington and Hanoi remain healthy, despite ongoing trade tensions.

The U.S. aircraft carrier USS George Washington pulls into Danang, Vietnam for a scheduled port visit, July 30, 2026.

The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS George Washington arrived in Danang yesterday ​for a five-day visit, a sign that relations between U.S. and Vietnam remain on track despite uncertainties in the trade relationship.

The nuclear-powered carrier and its two escorts, the guided-missile cruiser USS Robert Smalls and the guided-missile destroyer USS Shoup, pulled into the port in central Vietnam yesterday, the U.S. Pacific Fleet said in a statement.

The ship and its commanders were greeted by Vietnam’s Naval Region 3 Command, and representatives from the ministries of National Defense and Foreign Affairs, as well as senior U.S. officials from the embassy in Hanoi.

This is the fourth visit by a U.S. aircraft carrier to Vietnam since the historic visit of the USS Carl Vinson to Danang in March 2018, the first since the normalization of diplomatic relations in 1995. The USS Theodore Roosevelt then visited in March 2020, to mark the 25th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Hanoi and Washington, followed by the USS Ronald Reagan in 2023. The Tripoli Amphibious Ready Group and 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit also paid a visit to Danang, along with the USS Robert Smalls, in December of last year.

In the statement, U.S. Ambassador Jennifer Wicks was “yet another testament” to the healthy state of U.S.-Vietnam defense cooperation and closer people-to-people ties under the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership that the two nations signed in 2023.

“As we mark 250 years of American independence, we are proud to celebrate this milestone alongside our friends in Vietnam,” she said.

The USS George Washington’s port call has brought more than 5,000 sailors to Danang, where they will take part in various engagements with local leaders and the wider community.

“While our ship represents the high-end capabilities of the U.S. Navy, our visit here to Vietnam supports a U.S.-Vietnam relationship that continues to grow stronger across an increasingly broad range of subjects, reflecting our shared interest in a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Capt. Nicholas DeLeo, commanding officer of the USS George Washington, said in the statement. In its own statement, Vietnam’s Ministry of Defense ​said that the visit “contributes to........

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