Defense

Acting Navy secretary vows to build ships days after Phelan’s firing

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by Ryan Mancini - 04/25/26 4:37 PM ET

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by Ryan Mancini - 04/25/26 4:37 PM ET

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Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao on Saturday vowed to build ships after his predecessor, John Phelan, was fired this week amid President Trump’s push for accelerated shipbuilding.

Cao posted a video to social media listing his priorities to service members in the Navy, starting off with taking “care of your needs and make sure you can do the mission.”

“Second, is we’re going to build ships,” Cao continued. “We need the platforms we need in order to defend this country. And finally, it’s to defend the homeland. Our mission has not changed and we’re going to keep driving on with the mission.”

Phelan was ousted on Wednesday, 13 months into the role and becoming the first service secretary to be removed during Trump’s second term. Over 30 senior military officers have been pushed out of their roles under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

A former U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Hill on Thursday that Phelan’s firing was related to shipbuilding efforts.

Phelan served as a fundraiser for Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. Cao is a retired U.S. Navy captain who was deployed to Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq, and a U.S. Naval Academy graduate. He previously ran unsuccessfully for House and Senate seats as a Republican in Virginia.

Phelan and Trump disagreed over the development of the new Trump-class battleship. He was asked to resign after meeting with the president and Hegseth, when Trump became convinced Phelan needed to go, CNN reported Wednesday. Hegseth pledged to replace Phelan with someone who could advance shipbuilding plans more quickly.

Trump in December announced the new battleship class as part of the U.S. Navy’s “Golden Fleet,” with the goal of having the ships built by 2028. Experts argue that this timeline would be unlikely given the billions of dollars and average time it takes to finish building new battleships.

Trump told reporters at the White House that Phelan “had some conflicts with some other people, mostly as to building and buying new ships.”

“I’m very aggressive in the new shipbuilding, and somehow he just didn’t get along with them,” Trump said. “He’s an excellent guy. I think he would have gotten along great with me. I didn’t really deal with him too much.”

Phelan on Tuesday said “everything’s on the table,” including the possibility of building new ships outside of the country, Navy Times reported.

“We just need to look at it, understand it, understand the implications behind it and decide if we think that makes sense or not,” he said.

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