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U.S. Navy Secretary John Phelan is leaving his job, the Pentagon abruptly announced Wednesday, making him the first head of a military service to depart during President Donald Trump’s second term — and the latest top defence leader to be ousted.
No reason was given for the unexpected departure of the Navy’s top civilian official. It comes as the U.S. has imposed a blockade of Iranian ports and is targeting ships linked to Tehran around the world during a tenuous ceasefire in the war.
Phelan’s ouster is the latest in a series of shakeups at the Pentagon, coming just weeks after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired the Army’s top uniformed officer, Gen. Randy George. Hegseth has also fired several other top generals, admirals and defence leaders since taking office last year.
The firings began in February 2025, when Hegseth removed military leaders including Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the Navy’s top uniformed officer, and Gen. Jim Slife, the Air Force’s second-in-command. Trump also fired Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown Jr. as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Underscoring how sudden the latest move was, Phelan addressed a large crowd of sailors and industry professionals Tuesday at the Navy’s annual conference in Washington and spoke with reporters about his agenda. He also hosted the leaders of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee to discuss the Navy’s budget request and efforts to build more ships, according to a social media post from his office.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a post on X that Phelan was “departing the administration, effective immediately.”
Another Trump loyalist is taking over as acting head of the Navy: Undersecretary Hung Cao, a 25-year Navy combat veteran who ran unsuccessful campaigns for the U.S. Senate and House in Virginia.

Phelan was major Trump donor
Phelan had not served in the military or held a civilian leadership role in the service before Trump nominated him for secretary in late 2024. He was seen as an outsider brought in to shake up the Navy.
He was a major donor to Trump’s campaign and founded the private investment firm Rugger Management LLC. According to his biography, Phelan’s main exposure to the military came from an advisory role with Spirit of America, a nonprofit that supported the defence of Ukraine and Taiwan.
The Associated Press could not immediately reach Phelan’s office for comment. The White House did not answer questions and instead responded by sending a link to Parnell’s statement.
Phelan is leaving during a busy time for the Navy. It has three aircraft carriers deployed in or heading to the Middle East, while the Trump administration says all branches of the armed forces are poised to resume combat operations against Iran if the ceasefire collapses.
The Navy has also maintained a heavy presence in the Caribbean, where it has taken part in a campaign of strikes against alleged drug boats. It also played a major role in the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in January.
A naval blockade is an act of war, but U.S. ships would not fire on ships attempting to run it, says Mark Norman, a retired Royal Canadian Navy vice-admiral and fellow with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. The mission would be to intercept and interdict, order them to stop, possibly using warning shots. Boarding and seizing ships would involve dropping troops by helicopter. ‘That gets pretty dicey,’ Norman said.
New acting secretary ran unsuccessful bids for Congress
Taking over as acting secretary is Cao, who ran an unsuccessful Senate bid in Virginia in 2024 in an attempt to unseat Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine. He had Trump’s endorsement in the crowded Republican primary and gave a speech at the 2024 Republican National Convention.
Cao’s biography includes fleeing Vietnam with his family as a child in the 1970s. In a campaign video for his Senate bid, he compared Vietnam’s communist regime during the Cold War to the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden.
During his one debate with Kaine, Cao criticized COVID-19 vaccine mandates for service members as well as the military’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
“When you’re using a drag queen to recruit for the Navy, that’s not the people we want,” Cao said from the debate stage. “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.”
Iran has vowed to retaliate after the U.S. Navy forcibly seized an Iranian cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz, ending a weekend where both countries accused the other of violating a ceasefire.
Trump and Hegseth have railed against DEI in the military, banning those efforts and firing people accused of supporting such programs.
When he ran for Congress in Virginia in 2022, Cao expressed opposition to aid for Ukraine during a debate against his Democratic opponent.
“My heart goes out to the Ukrainian people…. But right now we’re borrowing $55 billion US from China to pay for the war in Ukraine. Not only that, we’re depleting our national strategic reserves,” Cao said.
Cao graduated from the prestigious Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Va., before attending the U.S. Naval Academy.
He was commissioned as a special operations officer and went on to serve with SEAL teams and special forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia before retiring with the rank of captain, according to his Senate campaign biography.
Cao also earned a master’s degree in physics and had fellowships at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University.
Since becoming Navy undersecretary, Cao has championed returning to duty service members that refused a Biden-era mandate to take the COVID-19 vaccine.
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