Pete Hegseth Fires Navy Secretary John Phelan Amid Iran Blockade

U.S. Navy Secretary John Phelan left the Trump administration “effective immediately,” the Pentagon announced on Wednesday, with Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell saying Phelan was “departing the administration, effective immediately.”

Axios reported that the Pentagon framed the move as an immediate departure after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired Phelan, and it quoted a person familiar with the situation saying, “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.”

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BBC likewise said Phelan’s departure would be “effective immediately,” and it reported that Navy Undersecretary Hung Cao would serve as acting secretary.

CNBC also said Phelan was leaving “effective immediately,” and it reported that Reuters, citing a source familiar with the matter, later said Phelan had been fired.

CNN added that six sources familiar with the matter told it Phelan was ousted, and it reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth informed Phelan he needed to resign or he would be fired.

In the same CNN account, a senior White House official said President Donald Trump was aware of the decision, while the White House directed CNN to Parnell’s statement that “Undersecretary Hung Cao will become Acting Secretary of the Navy.”

Across the coverage, the Pentagon did not provide a reason for the sudden exit, with BBC saying, “The Navy did not provide a reason for Phelan's departure,” and CNBC saying Parnell “did not provide an explanation for Phelan's sudden departure.”

The ouster landed while the U.S. Navy was enforcing a blockade of Iranian ports during a ceasefire in the Iran war, and multiple outlets tied the leadership shakeup to that high-stakes operational context.

BBC said the departure came “amid the US-Israel war with Iran and the continued US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz,” and it described clashes continuing in the strait, where Iran announced it had “seized” two ships.

BBC

CNN similarly said the announcement came “while the US Navy is carrying out a blockade of Iranian ports during a ceasefire in the Iran war,” and it reported that “US forces have redirected 29 vessels to return to port and have also boarded two ships.”

NBC News reported that Phelan’s ouster came amid the “U.S. naval blockade of Iran,” and it said the American military had seized two ships in the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran called a violation of the ceasefire.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told NBC News on Fox News that the seizure was not a violation because they were “international vessels,” and she insisted the blockade has been “massively effective.”

BBC added that Trump said the blockade of Iranian ports would continue amid a ceasefire, and it quoted Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf saying 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.

NPR likewise framed the timing as coming as the Navy imposed a blockade of Iranian ports and targeted ships linked to Tehran around the world during a “tenuous ceasefire.”

In the same NPR account, it said the Navy had three aircraft carriers deployed in or heading to the Middle East and that the Trump administration said all armed forces were poised to resume combat operations against Iran if the ceasefire expired.

While the Pentagon did not give a reason, the reporting described competing explanations for why Phelan was removed, with several outlets pointing to internal friction and shipbuilding priorities.

“US Navy chief leaving post 'effective immediately', Pentagon says US Navy Secretary John Phelan is leaving the Trump administration, the Pentagon announced on Wednesday”

BBC

Axios said the firing added to “the pile of military officials who either abruptly exited or were pushed out of their posts under Trump 2.0,” and it reported that a person familiar with the situation said Phelan and Hegseth did not “get along.”

Axios also said Hegseth felt Phelan bypassed the chain of command too much with a direct line to Trump, and it described a rationale that Phelan “did not 'get along'” while also quoting a Pentagon insider saying, “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.”

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported that sources said Phelan was dismissed in part because he was moving too slow to implement reforms to speed shipbuilding and because he had fallen out with key Pentagon leadership, citing “bad relationships with Hegseth, Hegseth’s deputy, Steve Feinberg” and with Hung Cao.

Politico reported that Phelan left in part because a “hugely expensive new battleship” he championed sparked friction with superiors including Pete Hegseth, and it said the “Trump Class” battleships were “not at all aligned with where Hegseth and Feinberg want to go.”

Politico also said Feinberg took over management of submarine programs and that the Office of Management and Budget was already running the shipbuilding effort, while it described Phelan as having “low-level people” as advisers.

CNN added a different mechanism, reporting that Hegseth informed Phelan he needed to resign or he would be fired, and it said multiple sources described tension for months between Phelan and Hegseth over shipbuilding reforms and over Phelan’s direct communication with Trump.

NPR described Phelan as an outsider brought in to shake up the Navy and said he had addressed sailors and industry professionals on Tuesday at the Navy’s annual conference in Washington.

Different outlets emphasized different aspects of the same leadership change, producing a picture that varied from internal infighting to shipbuilding strategy disputes to the broader pattern of Pentagon shakeups.

Axios foregrounded the personnel dynamic, saying the ouster “caught many off-guard” and describing a person familiar with the situation saying Phelan and Hegseth did not “get along,” while it also highlighted that Phelan and Hegseth were said to have a “good relationship” in the sense that Phelan and President Trump had texted about rust on warships.

CNBC

The Guardian, by contrast, said people familiar with the dynamics told it Phelan was fired and that he had an “increasingly rocky relationship” with Pete Hegseth and other senior staff, adding that sources said Hegseth blamed Phelan for not going aggressively enough against senator Mark Kelly after a video in which the senator advised troops to ignore “illegal orders.”

CNN focused on the immediate coercive step, reporting that Hegseth told Phelan he needed to resign or he would be fired, and it said a senior White House official said Trump was aware of the decision.

NPR framed the departure as the first among military service secretaries nominated under Trump’s second term, while also placing it in a longer chain of shakeups and describing Phelan’s background as a major Trump donor and founder of Rugger Management LLC.

Politico emphasized the battleship dispute and said Phelan helped conceive “Trump Class” battleships, while it described Hegseth and Deputy Secretary Stephen Feinberg as frustrated because the ships did not align with a pivot toward smaller, cheaper uncrewed ships.

BBC and CNBC both stressed the Pentagon’s lack of explanation, with BBC saying “The Navy did not provide a reason” and CNBC saying Parnell “did not provide an explanation,” even as CNBC reported Reuters later said Phelan had been fired.

Even the Honolulu Star-Advertiser added an ethics angle, saying a source cited an ethics investigation into Phelan’s office, a detail not present in the other accounts.

The leadership change placed Hung Cao at the center of the Navy’s immediate command, with multiple outlets describing him as the acting secretary and emphasizing his background and political profile.

“Secretary of the Navy John Phelan is leaving the Trump administration "effective immediately," a spokesman for the Department of Defense said in a statement Wednesday”

CNBC

BBC said Phelan’s replacement, Cao, became undersecretary in October 2025 and is a “25-year Navy veteran,” and it reported that Cao ran an unsuccessful campaign for the US Senate in Virginia in 2024, endorsed by Trump, against incumbent Democratic Senator Tim Kaine.

CNN

CNBC and CNN both said Undersecretary Hung Cao would lead the Navy in an acting capacity, with CNN quoting Parnell that “Undersecretary Hung Cao will become Acting Secretary of the Navy.”

NPR added that Cao ran unsuccessful bids for Congress and included a campaign quote from a debate in which Cao said, “When you're using a drag queen to recruit for the Navy, that's not the people we want,” and it also quoted Cao saying, “What we need is alpha males and alpha females who are going to rip out their own guts, eat them and ask for seconds.”

NPR also quoted Cao opposing aid for Ukraine, saying, “We're borrowing $55 billion from China to pay for the war in Ukraine,” and it described Trump and Hegseth as having railed against DEI in the military.

Beyond the acting leadership, outlets tied the next steps to ongoing shipbuilding and budget timing, with Politico saying the ouster comes a week before Hegseth is set to testify on the Pentagon’s proposed $1.5 trillion budget and that it would involve significant boosts to key Navy programs including Trump’s proposed “Golden Fleet.”

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser said the Navy was under intense pressure to expand its fleet and referenced Trump’s $1.5 trillion defense budget request for fiscal year 2027, including “over $65 billion to procure 18 warships and 16 support ships” made by General Dynamics and Huntington Ingalls Industries.

Axios also said Phelan had recently sat down with a dozen reporters Tuesday afternoon to discuss the future of the Navy and its major investments, including the Golden Fleet, and it quoted him saying, “We're going to really need to improve our ability to build ships.”

In the immediate operational theater, CNN said the blockade context included redirected vessels and boarded ships, while BBC said clashes continued in the Strait of Hormuz, leaving the Navy’s acting leadership to manage an active crisis.