US Navy chief leaves post ‘effective immediately’, Pentagon says
Reuters
US Secretary of the Navy John Phelan is leaving the Trump administration, the Pentagon announced on Wednesday.
His departure will be “effective immediately,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a message posted on social media. Undersecretary of the Navy Hung Cao will serve in the role, which is largely administrative.
Phelan is the latest high-ranking military leader to leave the administration in recent months. His departure comes amid the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and the continued U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
The Navy provided no reason. His departure comes after tensions within US leaders over issues related to shipbuilding, according to unconfirmed reports in US media.
“On behalf of the Secretary of War and the Assistant Secretary of War, we are grateful to Secretary Phelan for his service to the Department and to the United States Navy,” Parnell wrote. “We wish him good luck in his future endeavors.”
This comes just weeks after US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth asked Army Chief of Staff Randy George. withdraw from his position.
Two other Army officials, Gen. David Hodne and Maj. Gen. William Green, were also dismissed recently.
Since joining the Pentagon, Hegseth has fired more than a dozen senior military officers, including the chief of naval operations and the vice chief of staff of the Air Force.
The secretary’s role is largely administrative and includes formulating policy, recruiting, training and equipping the Navy, as well as overseeing the budget and logistics such as the construction and repair of ships and naval installations.
Phelan, a civilian who had never served in the military, was sworn in as secretary of the Navy in March 2025 after being nominated by President Donald Trump in 2024. The businessman was a major donor to Trump’s campaign.
The two men appeared side by side at Mar-a-Lago last December when Trump announced that the United States would order a new series of heavily armed “battleships” named after him – as part of a Revamped “Golden Fleet” which Phelan supported.
Andrew Peek, a former deputy assistant secretary at the State Department, told the BBC that the president had made it clear that he wanted to expand the country’s merchant and civilian fleet.
“Eventually, someone was going to take responsibility for the lack of movement on this. I would bet it’s about 30 percent of that,” Peek said.
“The other 70% – Phelan’s replacement is very well known to the MAGA base, I would bet it’s a simple replacement for someone they like and trust more,” he added.
Phelan’s replacement, Cao, became deputy secretary in October 2025 and is a 25-year Navy veteran.
He ran an unsuccessful campaign for U.S. Senate in Virginia in 2024, backed by Trump, against incumbent Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine. During a campaign debate, he criticized the military’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Speaking about Navy recruiting during the debate, Cao said, “What we need are alpha males and females who are going to rip out guts, eat them and beg for seconds.” It’s young men and women who will win the wars,” the AP reported.
The change in Navy leadership comes as Trump said the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports would continue amid a ceasefire in the war. Clashes continue in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global shipping route that supplies much of the world’s oil, with Iran announcing it had “seized” two ships in the strait.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president was “pleased” with the ongoing US naval blockade of Iranian ports and “understands that Iran is in a very weak position.”
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s chief negotiator in negotiations with the United States, said Wednesday that it was “not possible” for the Strait of Hormuz to be reopened due to “blatant ceasefire violations” by the United States and Israel.
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