U.S. navy chief resigns amid Pentagon infighting

Navy Secretary John Phelan abruptly left his job on Wednesday in part because a hugely expensive new battleship he championed sparked friction with his superiors — including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Phelan, who served just over a year in his post, had helped conceive of the new battleships to curry favor with President Donald Trump, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The “Trump Class” battleships were a major source of frustration for Hegseth and Deputy Secretary Stephen Feinberg because they did not serve the Pentagon’s broader strategy to pivot toward smaller, cheaper uncrewed ships, according to the two people, who, like others in this story, were granted anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

The massive ships will cost the Defense Department billions to even begin developing, and are “not at all aligned with where Hegseth and Feinberg want to go,” the first person said.

Phelan had also recently seen some of his key responsibilities pulled away, according to a third and fourth person. They said Feinberg had taken over management of submarine programs and the Office of Management and Budget was already running the shipbuilding effort.

Phelan was in the lobby of the White House on Wednesday after the announcement was made, according to a person familiar with the matter. He was also seen on Capitol Hill that day. The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Pentagon declined to comment on specifics about the battleship. Phelan could not be reached for comment.

The ouster of Phelan comes amid the U.S. military campaign in Iran and a week before Hegseth is set to testify on the Pentagon’s proposed $1.5 trillion budget, which would involve significant boosts to key Navy programs. This includes Trump’s proposed “Golden Fleet.”

Phelan, a wealthy financier, was one of several businessmen tapped for top Pentagon posts by Trump, alongside Feinberg. He came aboard a service plagued by problems in shipbuilding with promises to shake up the process. He oversaw the cancellation of the troubled Constellation-class frigate, along with the announcement of Trump’s battleship and efforts to consolidate the Navy’s ranks of admirals.

But he struggled to get the Navy to increase shipbuilding numbers, one of Trump’s top priorities. Phelan had also lost key staff in recent months. Hegseth in October fired Jon Harrison, Phelan’s unusually powerful chief of staff who had sought sweeping changes to the Navy’s policy and budgeting offices and attempted to curb the role of the undersecretary before undersecretary Hung Cao was confirmed to the post.

Cao, the service’s second ranking civilian, will take over Phelan’s role on an acting basis.

Phelan’s management of the Navy was “out of touch” with the service, which frustrated both Feinberg and Hegseth, according to the second person, who added that Phelan had been left with “low-level people” as advisers.

Hunter Stires, who served as a top Navy advisor in both the Biden and Trump administrations, said Phelan had also made a misstep when he signaled an openness to building American warships abroad.

“Phelan’s statements directly undercut a bipartisan strategy championed by the Trump administration to incentivize world class allied shipbuilders to invest in modernizing and expanding shipyards here in the United States,” he said.

The Pentagon announced Phelan’s surprise departure on Wednesday without citing a reason. “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,” chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement. “We wish him well in his future endeavors.”

Phelan had spoken at the Navy League’s big Sea, Air, Space conference on Tuesday.

The sudden departure is the latest in a series of senior resignations and firings across the Trump administration, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Phelan is the second top military official fired amid the U.S. war in Iran, after Hegseth dismissed Army chief of staff Gen. Randy George this month.