Ousted Navy Secretary Waited at White House for Over an Hour To Beg Trump To Save His Job: Report

AP Photo/Alex Brandon, file

Former Secretary of the Navy John Phelan waited to meet with President Donald Trump for over an hour on Wednesday before begging him to save his job.

Phelan’s senior aides learned of his ouster from a social media post announcing he would be leaving the administration “immediately,” U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth had called Phelan earlier in the day to ask for his resignation, which the Navy secretary reportedly refused to give until he had spoken with Trump. When he finally spoke with the president on Wednesday night, Trump declined to save his position.

“The episode is a sign that Hegseth retains Trump’s support despite recent high-level personnel churn at the Pentagon,” read The Journal’s report. “In signing off on Phelan’s dismissal, the president sided with Hegseth over a personal friend and neighbor who raised millions of dollars for his campaign. Trump instructed the Pentagon chief to handle Phelan’s firing, administration officials said.”

The president had reportedly been lobbied that day by both Hegseth and his deputy Stephen Feinberg to support the ouster, arguing that Phelan was moving too slowly on Trump’s priorities, chiefly his “Golden Fleet” plans.

“He’s a wonderful guy. I just put out a statement about him. He’s a very good man, I really liked him, but he had some conflict with, not necessarily Pete,” Trump said of Phelan’s departure on Thursday. “He’s a hard charger and he had some conflicts with some other people, mostly as to building and buying their ships. I’m very aggressive in the new ship building, and somehow he just didn’t get along with them.”

Phelan and Trump maintained a close relationship for years, with the former Navy secretary frequently dining with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, located down the street from Phelan’s own Florida home. Their friendship ruffled feathers at the Pentagon, with Phelan striking a nerve when he went directly to the president with an idea for a modern battleship.

“Leadership at this level isn’t without its challenges. Decision-making can be slowed by caution, competing equities, and internal friction,” Phelan wrote in his statement to The Post. “But our mission demands clarity, urgency, and results—and I never lost sight of that.”

Phelan is one of many officials ousted by Hegseth during his tenure. Less than a month before Phelan, the Defense Secretary asked Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George to retire, along with head of Army Transformation and Training Command Gen. David Hodne and 26th chief of chaplains Maj. Gen. William Green Jr. Hegseth also ousted Chief of Army Public Affairs Col. Dave Butler in February, another in more than a dozen top military officials fired in Trump’s second term.

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