The Trump administration fired its top naval official on Wednesday in a move unrelated to the ongoing naval blockade of Iran’s strait of Hormuz, but instead over over an internal dispute about shipbuilding.
The Pentagon confirmed that John Phelan, who ran a private investment fund in Florida and was a Donald Trump donor, had been ousted as the navy secretary. His departure – the first of any service secretary in the Trump administration – came in the same week Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps seized two container ships in the strait of Hormuz, claiming maritime violations and transferring them to Iranian shores.
But the firing was seemingly unrelated to the conduct of the war. People familiar with the situation told the Guardian the causes included poor relationships with secretary Pete Hegseth, the powerful deputy secretary of defense Steve Feinberg and Phelan’s own deputy, Hung Cao, stretching back many months.
The people familiar said there was also a Pentagon view that he was moving too slowly on shipbuilding reforms Trump personally wanted and there was also reportedly an ongoing ethics investigation into the Navy secretary’s office. Feinberg, they said, had sought to consolidate all navy shipbuilding and major acquisition responsibilities – with one source saying he appears to have won.
According to the New York Times, Feinberg had also moved to strip Phelan of authority over major shipbuilding programs, one congressional official told the publication.
Though the timing of Phelan’s removal is unusual, the endgame had been on the horizon since October, when Hegseth fired Phelan’s chief of staff Jon Harrison, shortly before Cao’s confirmation. That move functionally removed the powerful aide who helped Phelan restructure navy offices in a way that would sideline Cao and other under secretaries.
Cao, a former navy officer and Republican senate candidate who ran in Virginia against senator Tim Kaine in 2024, more closely aligned with Hegseth’s approach to cultural issues within the military. He was named acting Navy secretary.
Phelan’s dismissal is the latest in a cascade of departures that has now included the departure of at least five high-ranking cabinet and military officials since the start of the war with Iran. Three cabinet secretaries have gone in four weeks: Kristi Noem from homeland security, Pam Bondi as attorney general, and on Monday Lori Chavez-DeRemer from the labor department. Republican senators are also privately warning that further upheaval is coming.
Politico reported that GOP lawmakers believe the commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, and the FBI director, Kash Patel, are all at risk of losing their positions. One Republican senator described Trump’s mindset to the outlet as: “He’s in a bad mood. He’s preparing to really let a lot of them go.”
Separately, Iran’s foreign minister has called the US blockade of Iranian ports “an act of war” and a ceasefire violation. The White House dismissed Iran’s seizure of two commercial vessels as “piracy”, insisting the naval blockade remains “incredibly effective.” The strait of Hormuz, just 34km wide at its narrowest, handles roughly 20% of global seaborne oil trade.
Trump had praised Phelan at the time of his appointment, calling him “one of the most successful businessmen in the country”.
