U.S. Navy Secretary John Phelan exits a booth at a defense conference outside of Washington, D.C. Photo: Colin Demarest/Axios
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired US Navy Secretary John Phelan. The Pentagon framed it Wednesday as an immediate departure.
Why it matters: The ouster of the service’s top civilian caught many off-guard, and adds to the pile of military officials who either abruptly exited or were pushed out of their posts under Trump 2.0.
- “Phelan didn’t understand he wasn’t the boss. His job is to follow orders given, not follow the orders he thinks should be given,” a person familiar with the situation told Axios.
- The same person said Phelan and Hegseth did not “get along.”
Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said Phelan was “departing the administration, effective immediately,” in a post on X. He did not provide a reason.
- Navy Undersecretary Hung Cao will take over in an acting capacity.
- Phelan and President Trump are said to have a good relationship. The two have texted about rust on warships.
- But Hegseth felt Phelan bypassed the chain of command too much with a direct line to Trump, whose Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach is near Phelan’s mansion, one of the sources said.
- The firing comes amid a naval standoff with Iran and some three weeks after Hegseth removed Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George and two other military leaders.
- Hegseth has also had friction with Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, who has been widely praised for an Army transformation initiative and who is a close friend of Vice President JD Vance.
- “The difference between Phelan and Driscoll is that Driscoll is kicking ass with the transformation initiative. And he’s Vance’s guy. Phelan is none of those things,” said a Pentagon insider.
- Despite the turmoil, Hegseth remains in Trump’s good graces because he has a solid relationship with the president, Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
- “Those are the four most important relationship he can have, and they’re good,” said a senior administration official.
- “But you never know around here.”
- Of note: Phelan sat down with a dozen reporters Tuesday afternoon to discuss the future of the Navy and its major investments, including the Golden Fleet and its battleship and frigate.
- “We’re going to really need to improve our ability to build ships,” he said at the time.
- Phelan, a longtime financier, was confirmed by the Senate about a year ago.
AXIOS
