President Donald Trump surprised the political world on Wednesday when he fired Secretary of the Navy John Phelan, reportedly over disagreements with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth over how to revive the Navy’s flagging shipbuilding program.
Many on social media, however, see something more sinister in this story.
Podcaster and The Weekly List author Amy Siskind posted on Bluesky in response to Phelan's firing, "BREAKING: Secretary of the Navy John Phelan 'is departing the administration, effective immediately.' In the middle of a war? WTH is going on?" A similarly popular anti-Trump account provided background on Phelan, noting that he "is a businessman and art collector who has never served in the military, flew at least twice on Epstein's plane with Jean-Luc Brunel, and got his job by donating millions to Trump's campaign." In a follow up post, the account added, "More. This is not encouraging."
Meanwhile Meidas Touch, the similarly influential anti-Trump account, characterized Trump's firing as part of a larger cleansing, writing "MILITARY PURGE: Navy Secretary John Phelan has been FIRED, effective immediately," noting that acting replacement Hung Cao faces questions about claims of being ‘blown up’ in combat, with his Navy record lacking a Purple Heart or Combat Action Ribbon.
Wall Street Journal Deputy Washington Bureau Chief Dave Brown argued Phelan was fired "after months of simmering tension with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth," with Pentagon leaders annoyed that Phelan had pitched the idea for a modern battleship directly to Trump, bypassing Hegseth.
Politico's Daniel Lippman added that Phelan "struggled to get the Navy to increase shipbuilding numbers, one of Trump's top priorities," and had seen "some of his key responsibilities stripped away in recent months.” Additionally Malcolm Nance, a US intelligence community veteran and expert, argued in response to the firing that "Phelan's only qualification was he raised tens of millions for Trump and had a world class erotic art collection. No relationship to the Navy or the military or the sea. He didn't even own a yacht."
If there is anything else notable about Phelan’s firing, aside from its potential indication of a furthering of Hegseth’s alleged military purge, it is that he is the first Trump cabinet officer to be fired during his second term who is not a woman. His first firing was Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem; she was followed by Attorney General Pam Bondi; and then it was Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer.