US Navy Secretary John Phelan is leaving the Trump administration, the Pentagon announced on Wednesday, marking the latest high-profile departure from the regime's military leadership.
His departure will be "effective immediately," Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a social media post. Navy Undersecretary Hung Cao will serve on an acting basis in the largely administrative role.
Phelan is the latest senior military official to exit the administration in recent months, amid the US-Israel war with Iran and the continued US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. The Navy has not provided a reason, but unconfirmed US media reports suggest tension over shipbuilding issues.
"On behalf of the Secretary of War and Deputy Secretary of War, we are grateful to Secretary Phelan for his service to the Department and the United States Navy," Parnell wrote. "We wish him well in his future endeavors."
The departure comes weeks after US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth asked Army Chief of Staff Randy George to step down. Two other Army officials, Gen David Hodne and Maj Gen William Green, have also been removed recently. Since entering the Pentagon, Hegseth has fired more than a dozen senior officers, including the chief of naval operations and the Air Force's vice chief of staff.
Phelan was reportedly ousted after clashing with Hegseth over implementation of Trump's shipbuilding initiative, according to sources who spoke to multiple outlets. The secretary's role is largely administrative, covering policy, recruiting, training, equipping, budgeting, and logistics.
Phelan, a civilian with no prior military service, was sworn in as Navy Secretary in March 2025 after being nominated by President Donald Trump in 2024. The businessman was a major donor to Trump's campaign. The two appeared together at Mar-a-Lago last December when Trump announced plans for a new series of heavily armed Navy "battleships" named after himself—part of a revamped "Golden Fleet" that Phelan supported.
Andrew Peek, a former State Department deputy assistant secretary, told the BBC that the president had been clear about expanding the merchant and civilian fleet. "Eventually, somebody was going to take the fall for the lack of movement on that. I would bet that's about 30% of this," Peek said. "The other 70%—Phelan's replacement is very well known to the MAGA base, I would bet it's a simple replacement with someone he likes and trusts better."
Phelan's replacement, Cao, became undersecretary in October 2025 and is a 25-year Navy veteran. He ran an unsuccessful campaign for the US Senate in Virginia in 2024, endorsed by Trump, against incumbent Democratic Senator Tim Kaine. During a debate, he criticized the military's diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and said: "What we need is alpha males and alpha females who are going to rip out their own guts, eat them and ask for seconds. Those are the young men and women that are going to win wars," as reported by AP.
The leadership change comes as Trump said the US blockade of Iranian ports would continue amid a ceasefire in the war. Clashes persist in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global shipping route for oil, with Iran announcing it had "seized" two ships in the strait. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president is "satisfied" with the blockade and "understands Iran is in a very weak position."
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran's chief negotiator in talks with the US, said on Wednesday that it is "not possible" for the Strait of Hormuz to be re-opened due to "the blatant violations of the ceasefire" by the US and Israel.
Source: www.bbc.com