US Navy Secretary John Phelan speaks in regards to the US Navy’s new Golden Fleet initiative, unveiling a brand new class of warships, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Seaside, Florida, on Dec. 22, 2025.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP | Getty Photographs
Secretary of the Navy John Phelan is leaving the Trump administration “efficient instantly,” a spokesman for the Division of Protection stated in an announcement Wednesday.
The spokesman, Sean Parnell, didn’t present an evidence for Phelan’s sudden departure. Reuters, citing a supply acquainted with the matter, reported later Wednesday that Phelan had been fired.
“On behalf of the Secretary of Conflict and Deputy Secretary of Conflict, we’re grateful to Secretary Phelan for his service to the Division and america Navy,” Parnell stated in an X publish. “We want him effectively in his future endeavors.”
Navy Below Secretary Hung Cao will lead the navy department, which incorporates the U.S. Marines, in an appearing capability, Parnell stated.
Phelan’s departure comes because the U.S. Navy enforces a high-stakes blockade of Iranian ports close to the Strait of Hormuz.
The important thing oil-shipping route has turn into a significant choke level within the U.S.-Israeli struggle in opposition to Iran.
The reported ouster additionally comes lower than three weeks after Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth, a former Fox Information host, fired U.S. Military Chief of Employees Randy George. The timing of the extremely skilled normal’s ouster — simply over a month after the U.S. launched the struggle in Iran — was thought-about extremely uncommon and has garnered criticism.
The Wall Avenue Journal reported on Sunday that Hegseth had dismissed George in a “terse cellphone name” after rising suspicious that the final had leaked a narrative to The New York Instances in regards to the Pentagon chief blocking the promotions of two Black and two feminine Military officers.
Hegseth has reportedly fired greater than a dozen senior navy officers.
Phelan had no navy expertise previous to his appointment by President Donald Trump in March 2025. He’s a significant artwork collector and Republican donor who has led personal funding companies.
CNN reported in February that Phelan is known as on a flight manifest exhibiting he flew to New York from London in 2006 on the personal aircraft of late intercourse offender Jeffery Epstein. The manifest was included within the Division of Justice’s launch of hundreds of thousands of information on Epstein.
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