President Trump dismissed Navy Secretary John Phelan on Wednesday following growing tensions over the administration’s ambitious plans to develop a new class of battleships. The sudden personnel change marks the first forced exit of a service secretary under Trump’s tenure, despite numerous leadership shifts among military generals and admirals over the past year.

The dispute centered on Trump’s insistence that the Navy deliver a fleet of advanced battleships—dubbed the "golden fleet" by the president—by 2028. At a December news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort, Trump declared that these vessels would be “the fastest, the biggest, and by far—100 times more powerful than any battleship ever built.” Charged with this mandate, Phelan struggled to develop a feasible strategy to meet the president’s demanding timeline amid concerns about industrial capacity and technical challenges.

In recent weeks, senior Department of Defense officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen A. Feinberg, reportedly grew frustrated with Phelan’s handling of the program. According to multiple defense sources, Hegseth and Feinberg conveyed to Trump that Phelan was not cooperating as a team player and recommended his removal. They also recently curtailed some of Phelan’s authority over the battleship initiative, leaving him primarily responsible for overseeing a major investment in new naval ships, envisioned as part of Trump’s broader vision for revamping the fleet.

The Trump administration’s $1.5 trillion defense budget proposal, released this week, requests $65.8 billion for shipbuilding—the second-largest such allocation since 1955, based on Congressional Budget Office data. The Navy anticipates requesting $17 billion in fiscal year 2028 to begin construction on the first ship of this new class, informally known as the Trump class.

However, senior defense officials have expressed skepticism about the program’s viability. They cite significant limitations within the U.S. shipbuilding industry, which experts say lacks the current capacity and technical expertise to produce the advanced battleships envisioned by the president within the allotted timeframe. Phelan, recognizing these constraints, reportedly proposed the possibility of utilizing European shipyards to meet the deadline, a suggestion that Trump reportedly rejected outright.

Following the decision to terminate Phelan’s tenure, the outgoing Navy secretary attempted to meet with Trump at the White House but was unsuccessful. The president later contacted Phelan by phone to confirm his dismissal. The Navy will now await the appointment of a new secretary who can navigate the complexities of implementing Trump’s expansive naval modernization agenda.