But - and this is the key - there was a narrative out there that a United States aircraft carrier was headed into a very significant and conspicuous part of the western Pacific Ocean at a very key and tense time.
"The president said that we have an armada going towards the peninsula".
The US military's Pacific Command explained on Tuesday that the strike group first had to complete a shorter-than-initially planned period of training with Australia but was now heading toward the Western Pacific. It was actually about 3,500 miles away from Korea on Saturday and heading in the opposite direction to participate in joint exercises with Australia.
So according to Spicer, because the ultimate destination of the Carl Vinson is, in fact, the Korean Peninsula, it didn't matter that the White House did not clarify that the aircraft carrier would not arrive there until later on in the month. Latest media reports from the United States and the Republic of Korea indicate that the Carl Vinson's task group is expected to reach Korean waters on April 25.
Meanwhile, the USA and South Korean military are now engaged in joint training exercise at the Kunsan Air Base on the west coast of the Korean Peninsula. It is happening, rather.
The White House is now facing questions about why it was not clear about the carrier group's whereabouts.
When U.S. officials claimed two weeks ago that an American aircraft carrier was heading toward waters near North Korea, it was actually sailing in the opposite direction, The New York Times and Defense News report.
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After the initial U.S. Pacific Command announcement on April 9 stated that the Carl Vinson Strike Group was headed north toward the Western Pacific Ocean, a spokesman for the command told VOA and other news organizations this was motivated by North Korea's "reckless, irresponsible and destabilizing program of missile tests and pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability".
Mattis then said, "She will be on her way".
The strike group's commander, Rear Admiral Jim Kirby, said in a Facebook post this week that the deployment had even been extended 30 days "to provide a persistent presence in the waters off the Korean Peninsula".
Later, he added: "We said that it was heading there, and it was heading there".
The perceived communications mix-up discredits some of the tough rhetoric coming from the Trump administration.
Analyst Daniel Pinkston with Troy University in Seoul, said this policy of increased military pressure is not only weakened by mixed messages over deploying a naval strike force, but also by widespread opposition among important allies such as Japan and South Korea. "It's just not going to happen", Pinkston told VOA.
Defense Secretary James Mattis told reporters Wednesday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, that the aircraft carrier's schedule was changed. Experts warned that Pyongyang might conduct a missile test. In an interview that aired April 12, President Trump said the USA was sending ships.
In addition to the comments about US-South Korea relations made by Hong, the presidential candidate from Park's ruling party, the confusion over the US' response to the potential nuclear tests has led to questions about how much the government and the military knew about the location of the Vinson and its group.
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