Trump’s battleship obsession is a costly distraction from real defense
The firing of Navy Secretary John Phelan reflects Pentagon tensions.
Given all the well-regarded generals and admirals sacked by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in his political purges, it’s hard to work up much sympathy for the latest Pentagon casualty: Navy Secretary John Phelan. He is a billionaire investor and major donor to President Donald Trump who had no business getting the job in the first place.
Yet at least part of the reason why Phelan was fired last week, according to news reports, was because Trump had given him an impossible and unnecessary assignment to build a new “Trump-class” battleship, the centerpiece of what Trump calls a “golden fleet,” before he leaves office in 2029. (Fox News reported that another reason Phelan was ousted was his refusal to ignore a federal judge’s ruling that it would be unconstitutional to punish Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Arizona), a retired Navy captain, for making a video reminding military personnel not to obey illegal orders.)