Defense

Newsmax host rips into Hegseth over Navy secretary’s firing

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by Sophie Brams - 04/25/26 12:15 PM ET

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by Sophie Brams - 04/25/26 12:15 PM ET

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Newsmax host Greg Kelly tore into Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday over the firing of Navy Secretary John Phelan, the latest in a series of abrupt departures from the Pentagon amid the conflict with Iran.

Kelly slammed Hegseth as a “DESPICABLE guy” and “Insecure FAKE” in a post on the social platform X, suggesting the secretary rushed to oust Phelan because he “can’t remove his Real Nemesis, the Army Secretary,” referring to Dan Discroll.

He argued Hegseth could have done the “DECENT thing” and given Phelan two weeks or a month’s notice, but instead he “blows up Someone Else’s life bc he can’t Handle his own.”

“Not CUTE anymore,” Kelly wrote.

Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesperson, announced on Wednesday that Phelan would be departing the administration after serving as Navy secretary for just 13 months. An administration official later told The Hill that he was “asked to step down.”

Phelan’s removal caught many by surprise, but Fox News reported on Thursday that tensions between him and Hegseth had been simmering for months.

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

President Trump is pushing for a new class of battleships, part of the U.S. Navy’s “Golden Fleet,” to be built by 2028— a target experts contend is unlikely to be met due to the high cost and time it would take to complete the vessels.

The Navy is seeking $377 billion in next year’s budget, including more than $65.8 billion for shipbuilding, for 18 warships.

Phelan is the first service secretary to be removed in Trump’s second term, joining more than two dozen senior military officers dismissed by Hegseth since the start of 2025.

Hegseth has drawn criticism for those decisions, as well as other controversial moves involving the Pentagon press corps. He made several changes to the department’s media policy last fall, restricting journalists’ access to the Pentagon.

Every major television network, wire, publication and radio outlet refused to sign onto the Pentagon’s new policy — requiring them to pledge not to obtain or use any unauthorized material, even if the information is unclassified — last fall and turned in their press badges.

That has left Hegseth to field questions from non-traditional outlets during his routine press briefings on the military operation in the Middle East, including from TMZ.

Hegseth took two questions from the entertainment outlet during Friday’s briefing. It is not immediately clear whether TMZ signed the pledge in order to appear at the Pentagon.

“I’ve heard you talk a lot about bombing people and places, and when you give these orders to carry out this extreme level of violence, what’s going through your mind and your body?” TMZ correspondent Jacob Wasserman asked. “Do you have, like, an adrenaline rush? Are you scared? Do you feel like you’re on a power trip? Just walk us through and paint us a picture of what it feels like mentally and physically.”

The inclusion of TMZ did not appear to sit well with Carla Babb, a national security reporter for Newsmax, who urged Hegseth to “please consider” calling on reporters who regularly cover the Defense Department. Newsmax did not sign the new media policy.

“It is apparent the majority of reporters called upon at the Pentagon briefing don’t cover the Pentagon regularly…maybe TMZ questions like that won’t happen if the reporters in the back, who’ve covered the Pentagon for years, get called upon?” she wrote on X.

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