US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Navy Secretary John Phelan had been fired after disagreements with senior Pentagon officials over shipbuilding issues, Reuters reported.
Phelan’s dismissal is part of a broader wave of leadership changes at the Pentagon,
The shakeup comes just weeks after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dismissed the military’s top uniformed officer, Gen. Randy George. Hegseth has also fired several other senior generals, admirals and defense officials since taking office last year.
Phelan’s dismissal was the latest upheaval in the Pentagon.
“He’s a hard charger and he’s had some conflicts with some other people, mostly about building and buying new ships,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “We got along, especially in the military, we got along, you know. And some people liked him, some didn’t, and that’s usually true of everything.”
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The wave of layoffs began in February 2025, when Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth removed several senior military leaders, including Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the Navy’s top uniformed officer, and General Jim Slife, the deputy commander of the Air Force. Trump also removed Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the AP reported.
Navy Secretary John Phelan pointed out how sudden the latest move was, speaking to a large gathering of sailors and industry professionals at the Navy’s annual conference in Washington a few days ago, outlining his priorities and speaking to reporters.
He also recently met with leaders of the House Armed Services Committee to discuss the Navy’s budget proposal and shipbuilding plans, according to a post from his office.
John Phelan was a major Trump donor
Phelan did not serve in the military or hold a civilian leadership role in the service before Trump nominated him to be secretary in late 2024. He was seen as an outsider brought in to shake up the Navy.
Phelan was a major donor to Trump’s campaign and founded the private equity firm Rugger Management LLC. According to his biography, Phelan’s primary exposure to the military came from an advisory position he held at Spirit of America, a nonprofit organization that supported the defense of Ukraine and the defense of Taiwan.
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The navy also maintains a strong presence in the Caribbean, where it is part of a campaign of strikes against alleged drug vessels. It also played a major role in the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in January.
Hung Cao, the new Acting Secretary of the Navy, led the failed bids to Congress
Hung Cao took over as Acting Secretary. He previously ran an unsuccessful 2024 U.S. Senate campaign in Virginia to unseat Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine. Cao won Donald Trump’s endorsement during the crowded Republican primary and also spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention, the AP reported.
His background includes fleeing Vietnam with his family as a child in the 1970s. During his Senate campaign, he drew comparisons between Vietnam’s communist government during the Cold War and that of Democratic President Joe Biden.
During his one debate with Kaine, Cao criticized the COVID-19 vaccination mandates for service members as well as the military’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
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“When you use drag queens to recruit for the Navy, those are not the people we want,” Cao said from the debate stage. “We need alpha males and alpha females who will rip out their own intestines, eat them and ask for seconds. These are the young men and women who will win the wars.”
Hung Cao graduated from the prestigious Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia and then went on to study at the United States Naval Academy.
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He was commissioned as a special operations officer and later served with SEAL teams and special forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia, eventually retiring with the rank of captain, according to his Senate campaign resume.
Cao also earned a master’s degree in physics and held fellowships at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University.
As deputy secretary of the Navy, he advocated for the reinstatement of service members who refused to comply with the COVID-19 vaccine mandate put in place during the Joe Biden administration.
