Trump’s Navy chief fired for failing to deliver ‘nearly impossible' dream: NYT report
Source: Raw Story · Bias: Far Left
Summary
A New York Times report on Thursday revealed more details behind what led to President Donald Trump's decision to fire Navy Secretary John Phelan. Trump apparently wanted Phelan to deliver on building a new class of battleships by 2028, but "the timeline was nearly impossible," according to The Times. Trump had even bragged about the planned ships, saying just days before Christmas at Mar-a-Lago, what he anticipated they would be. "They’ll be the fastest, the biggest and by far — 100 times more powerful than any battleship ever built," Trump said. But Phelan didn't act fast enough for Trump. He "struggled to come up with a plan to deliver the ships on the nearly impossible timeline that Mr. Trump has demanded, senior defense and administration officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters," The Times reported. And in recent weeks, Pentagon in-fighting mounted."The breaking point for Mr. Phelan, who often said that he and Mr. Trump texted and talked on the phone regularly, came in the last two weeks as the president’s frustration over Mr. Phelan’s management of his prized battleship program grew and Mr. Phelan’s enemies in the Pentagon, including Mr. Hegseth and Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen A. Feinberg, mounted a campaign to force him out," according to The Times.
Related Coverage
- Feds tout 'well-prepared' Trump fair after blistering heat wave hospitalized attendees (Far Left — Raw Story)
- Trump announces new pardons after privately weighing "Diddy" clemency, sources said (Center — Politics - CBSNews.com)
- Trump Heads to Mount Rushmore, Where He Wants to See His Face (Center — WSJ.com : U.S. News)
- 'Total disaster' at Trump's fair as scorching heat leaves 7 on 'advanced life support' (Far Left — Raw Story)
- Trump, ballot seizures and a ‘declaration’: Gavin Newsom teases tiresome July 4 address to the state (Right — New York Post)
- 'Not mentally well': MAGA suspects Trump sabotaged by liberals armed with weather machines (Far Left — Raw Story)
- 'God is angry': Internet bemused as Mother Nature comes for Trump's Mount Rushmore speech (Far Left — Raw Story)
- ‘The second-most good-looking president’: Trump entertains on Usha Vance’s program (Far Right — WorldNetDaily)
Daily Analysis
Read the full Parallax Pulse for April 23, 2026 — an AI-powered analysis of how Left and Right media covered the biggest stories this day.
More Headlines From April 23, 2026
- U.S. Soldier Charged With Using Classified Information to Bet on Maduro’s Ouster (Center)
- Trump orders Navy to ‘shoot and kill’ any boat laying mines in Strait of Hormuz (Center)
- DOJ Inspector General to Audit Handling of Epstein Files and Redactions (Center)
- 2 Republicans break with party as GOP defeats budget amendment to lower health care costs (Center)
- RFK Jr. Faces Backlash Over FDA Rejection of Lifesaving Cancer Drug (Left)






