00:00United States Navy Secretary John Phelan has been fired.
00:04That's according to an official and a person familiar with the matter on Wednesday.
00:08The move marks another wartime shakeup at the Pentagon,
00:11coming just weeks after Defense Secretary Pete Hegzeth ousted the Army's top general.
00:17The Pentagon confirmed his departure, saying Phelan left the administration effective immediately,
00:23though it did not give a reason or say whether he chose to step down.
00:27His firing was first reported by Reuters.
00:30Sources said Phelan was dismissed in part for moving too slowly on reforms to speed up shipbuilding.
00:36The Navy is under intense pressure to expand its fleet.
00:40China's shipbuilding industry now dwarfs the U.S., which was once a global powerhouse.
00:45One source cited strained relationships with Hegzeth,
00:48his deputy Steve Feinberg, and the Navy's second-ranking civilian, Hong Kao.
00:53The Pentagon said Kao will now serve as acting Navy Secretary.
00:57The source also cited an ethics investigation into Phelan's office.
01:01A billionaire with close ties to President Donald Trump,
01:05Phelan is the first Trump-appointed service secretary fired since Trump returned to office last year.
01:11Mr. President, Secretary Hegzeth, Secretary Rubio, thank you for being here on a very consequential day.
01:20From my very first conversation with President Trump about serving as the Secretary of the Navy,
01:25he's talked about the great Iowa-class battleship and why America doesn't build ships anymore
01:31with that kind of offensive firepower that takes the fight to the enemy.
01:36During my time in the job, I've talked extensively with our combatant commanders,
01:41like Admiral Paparo and Admiral Cooper, and our CNO, Admiral Cottle.
01:46What I've learned is that not only is the President's idea a good one,
01:50it's something that Navy desperately needs and now has a formal requirement for.
01:55The future Trump-class battleship, the USS Defiant, will be the largest, deadliest, and most versatile
02:03and best-looking warship anywhere on the world's oceans.
02:08I want to thank the President for his vision to make this game-changing capability for the United States Navy.
02:15The Iowa was designed to go on the attack with the biggest guns,
02:19and that's exactly what will define the Trump-class battleships,
02:24offensive firepower from the biggest guns of our era.
02:28This ship isn't just to swat the arrows.
02:30It is going to reach out and kill the archers.
02:33And for the first time in generations, we'll have a new leg in America's nuclear deterrence,
02:39because the Trump-class battleship will carry the nuclear-armed, sea-launched cruise missile.
02:46Striking dominance isn't all that the Trump-class battleship brings to the fight at sea.
02:51It has the size and capacity to serve as a flagship for our fleet commanders,
02:56so that they can command and control naval forces far out to sea.
03:02As shown in the series, and the President mentioned it, Victory at Sea,
03:05Admirals Bull Halsey and Raymond Spurance commanded the war in the Pacific
03:11from their battleship flagships during World War II.
03:14Now this new battleship will command everything from warships to drones and everything in between.
03:21We're going to make battle groups great again.
03:24And this is just one piece of the President's golden fleet
03:28that we're going to build with the investments he talked about.
03:31A new frigate, the right frigate,
03:34the one our warfighters have told us they need.
03:37More amphibious power for our Marines,
03:40with new capabilities like the medium landing ship.
03:43As part of the Navy's high-low mix,
03:46we're moving out aggressively on unmanned vessels,
03:49with funding from the President's one big, beautiful bill,
03:52to bring options to the fight
03:53and pull new, non-traditional defense partners
03:57into the American shipbuilding ecosystem.
04:01And we're making a generational investment in support ships.
04:05Logistics wins wars.
04:06And that kind of shipbuilding is the spark
04:09that will ignite the industrial base
04:11and help power the commercial shipbuilding
04:14that the President has called for.
04:16Under your leadership, Mr. President,
04:18we will have more tonnage and firepower
04:21under construction than ever before in our history.
04:24Building the President's Golden Fleet means jobs
04:27across the United States now.
04:30There will be work for shipyards everywhere,
04:32from Philadelphia to San Diego,
04:35from Maine to Mississippi,
04:37from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast,
04:39and for manufacturers that will build components
04:42for this battleship in every state.
04:45The President has been clear.
04:47We must bring back our American maritime industrial might.
04:51And he has told me many times that as Secretary of the Navy,
04:55it is my job to equip our sailors to win the fight at sea
04:58with the finest ships in our history.
05:01To conclude, the USS Defiant battleship
05:04will inspire awe and reverence for the American flag
05:08whenever it pulls into a foreign port.
05:10It will be a source of pride for every American
05:13when it brings home our brave sailors
05:15who will sail Defiant, raise their fists,
05:18and say, we are peace through strength.
05:21And our adversaries will know
05:23when the Trump-class USS Defiant appears on the horizon,
05:28American victory at sea is inevitable.
05:31Thank you, Mr. President.
05:33Now when a conflict arises,
05:35you are going to ask not one, but two questions.
05:38Where are the carriers?
05:40And where are the battleships?
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