"Phelan didn't understand that he wasn't the boss. His job was to follow the orders he was given, not to follow the orders he thought should be given," a source familiar with the dispute told Axios.
Several media outlets are reporting that Phelan has been fired or is being forced out after repeated disputes with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and his deputy, Steve Feinberg.
Building the fleet
The disputes involved leadership and the handling of the Navy's shipbuilding and investment in a new "Golden Fleet," The New York Times writes. Phelan was present when President Donald Trump announced last winter that the United States would build a bigger and better battleship than ever before - in a new class of ships called the Trump Class.
"He wants to build our fleet. It takes a brain like Phelan's to do it properly," Trump said at the time.
Harvard-educated venture capitalist and billionaire Phelan was a significant contributor to the president's re-election campaign, notes The Washington Post. He owns a mansion-like villa near Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort and residence in Palm Beach, Florida, and Hegseth reportedly felt slighted when Phelan occasionally discussed matters directly with Trump, Axios and others write.
Blockade and attacks
The Navy Secretary is responsible for nearly a million employees, both military and civilian. The announcement comes at a critical time, as the United States has imposed a blockade on Iranian ports and has regularly attacked alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific Oceans.
Marine Corps veteran and former deputy Navy secretary Hung Cao will now be acting Navy secretary.
Earlier in April, the Army Chief of Staff, General Randy George, and two other high-ranking military officials were removed from their posts. In parallel, several cabinet officials in the Trump administration have been dismissed, most recently Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer.
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