The Pentagon announced in the night from Wednesday, April 22 to Thursday, April 23 that the highest civilian official of the US Navy was leaving his position “with immediate effect”. No explanation was provided, while the conflict with Iran drags on.
A laconic statement released on Wednesday, April 22 by the Pentagon, the US Department of Defense, served as the announcement. The Secretary of the US Navy, John Phelan, is “leaving the administration with immediate effect,” as seen on X. While it is specified that his deputy Hung Cao, a navy veteran and loyal to Donald Trump, will temporarily assume the position, no other information helps to understand this departure.
John Phelan is not the first high-ranking official of the US military to be removed without explanation since Donald Trump’s return to the White House in 2024, RFI remembers. This important donor during the campaign greatly contributed to Trump’s return.
The Chief of Staff of the Army, General Randy George, had already been pushed out in early April; a similar treatment for high-ranking officials in the NSA intelligence agency, the Coast Guard, the Air Force, and the Navy.
According to Le Monde, this departure is even more abrupt since the former Secretary of the US Navy spoke the day before, on Tuesday, April 21, at the annual naval conference in Washington in front of sailors and industry professionals. He had revealed his upcoming plans to journalists and met with the leaders of the House Armed Services Committee.
This decision by the Trump administration comes at a particularly tense time for the US Navy. Three aircraft carriers are deployed (or on their way) in the waters of the Middle East, at a time when the US maintains its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and is prepared to resume military operations against Iran if the ceasefire expires.
Published on April 23 at 07:13, by Mina Peltier, 6Médias.
