Navy secretary fired after feud over Trump’s ‘Golden Fleet’ with Pentagon leaders, including Hegseth
By Emily Goodin,
Victor Nava and
Marisa Schultz
Published April 22, 2026
Updated April 22, 2026, 7:40 p.m. ET
Secretary of the Navy John Phelan was fired Wednesday after months of feuding with his Pentagon bosses, particularly over his handling of President Trump’s “Golden Fleet” shipbuilding initiative.
Tensions among Phelan, War Secretary Pete Hegseth and Deputy War Secretary Stephen Feinberg had been simmering for months, according to the New York Times and a Republican source.
Phelan didn’t get along with Pentagon brass and his management and leadership style were “incongruent” with Hegseth and Feinberg, one GOP source familiar with the fired Navy secretary’s standing at the Pentagon told The Post.
“The administration really wanted to accelerate the shipbuilding program because of the president’s agenda … and the secretary seemed incapable of accomplishing those goals, and he wasn’t well-liked,” the source said. “When you combine incompetence with arrogance, it usually doesn’t end well.”
Feinberg had been gradually diverting responsibility for the major project away from Phelan, the New York Times reported.
The secretary had also butted heads with Hung Cao, the undersecretary who is now set to replace him, officials told the outlet.
more
https://nypost.com/2026/04/22/us-news/trump-replacing-navy-secretary-in-major-shakeup-as-strait-of-hormuz-blockade-rages/