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Hegseth Fires Navy Secretary John Phelan Mid-War, the 34th Military Officer Fired

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ousted Navy Secretary John Phelan Wednesday, giving him the choice to resign or be fired, six sources told CNN. The Pentagon announced the departure as effective immediately, with no explanation provided.

A person familiar with the situation told Axios that Phelan “didn’t understand he wasn’t the boss” and that he and Hegseth “did not get along.” Sources said Hegseth believed Phelan was moving too slowly on shipbuilding reforms and was also irritated by Phelan’s direct communication with Trump, which Hegseth viewed as an attempt to bypass him.

Navy Undersecretary Hung Cao will serve as acting Navy secretary. A senior White House official told CNN Trump was aware of the decision.

The firing comes as the Navy is currently enforcing one of its largest operations in decades: the blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz.

Phelan is a businessman and major Republican donor with no prior military service, confirmed as Navy secretary in 2025. It is the first ouster of a military service secretary under Trump’s current term — part of a broader pattern of Hegseth removing senior Pentagon officials since taking office. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Fox News reports he is the 34th officer fired by Secretary Hegseth.

He will OBEY the Commander in Chief.

The United States has just nuked its own arms export business. Not with a missile. With a phone call.

Pete Hegseth rang Estonia’s defense minister and told him the HIMARS and Javelin deliveries are on hold.

Indefinitely. Months, not weeks. No timeline. No alternative. Just: sorry, we’re busy bombing Iran.

And that’s it. Twenty years of patient alliance-building, vaporized in a Monday morning call.

Here’s what European defense planners now know for certain: American weapons come with an asterisk. The asterisk reads “subject to cancellation whenever Washington decides its own adventure takes priority.”

You can sign the contracts. You can train your soldiers. You can build your entire defensive posture around US systems. And then one day, the ammo stops. No warning. No plan B.

Estonia is already shopping elsewhere. So is everyone else, with the kind of focus that only comes from genuine betrayal.

The Americans think this is a pause. Europe knows it’s a divorce.

BREAKING: Fox News just reported that Pete Hegseth fired United States Secretary of the Navy John Phelan because Phelan would not ignore a federal judge's orders!

"Hegseth and Phelan reportedly butted heads when Phelan refused to ignore a recent federal judge’s ruling that said punishing Senator Mark Kelly for making a video which he reminded military officers of their constitutional duty to not to not follow illegal orders would violate his First Amendment rights."

They can't even grift competently.