WATCH: President Trump Explains Why Navy Secretary John Phelan Was Fired

Yesterday, Navy Secretary John Phelan was fired by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

Reportedly, after a lot tension between the two, Secretary Hegseth ended up firing Phelan after he went against orders related to shipbuilding.

If you missed it, we covered the full story of Phelan’s firing here:

Navy Secretary John Phelan Was Reportedly FIRED By Pete Hegseth — Here’s Why

Now, we have an update.

President Trump has just confirmed the reports that Secretary Phelan was fired by Hegseth.

While speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, President Trump called Phelan "a very good man" but that said that he clashed with other people "mostly as to building and buying new ships."

Watch here:

🚨 JUST IN: President Trump gives more details on WHY Navy Secretary John Phelan was fired yesterday

"He's a very good man.. He's a hard charger, and he had some conflicts with some other people, mostly as to building and buying new ships.

I'm very aggressive in the new… pic.twitter.com/YFIDVF160l

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) April 23, 2026

JUST IN: President Trump gives more details on WHY Navy Secretary John Phelan was fired yesterday

"He's a very good man.. He's a hard charger, and he had some conflicts with some other people, mostly as to building and buying new ships.

I'm very aggressive in the new shipbuilding, and somehow he just didn't get along with them."

"You gotta get along, especially in the military!"

There you have it, folks.

Now, President Trump can get someone in there who will work as a team along with Pete Hegseth and all the other military officials.

It's very important to have such cooperation -- especially when there's a war going on!

For now, the Acting Secretary of the Navy is Hung Cao -- a veteran who escaped Communist Vietnam as a child.

Politico provided more information on Cao:

Cao, a former refugee who immigrated to the U.S. from Vietnam as a child, spent more than two decades in the Navy, including deployments in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia. One of the people familiar said that Cao was scheduled to visit the White House on Wednesday to talk about his plans for the acting job.

“He’s worked in the building, is a naval officer, and has the political support in both the admin and Navy to — in theory — be quite effective and get stuff done,” said an industry official, who like others interviewed, was granted anonymity to discuss internal conversation. The person added that Cao was “very sharp” on details of shipbuilding programs “which is rare for a high level political appointee.”

Cao, in an email statement, said he was “grateful” for the opportunity to serve in the Navy’s top role on an acting basis. “I have moved out with the duties and responsibilities of the office,” he said. “My immediate priorities are taking care of our sailors and marines, advancing shipbuilding initiatives and ensuring the defense of our homeland.”

Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said Cao “embodies the relentless grit and America First vision required to maintain America’s maritime superiority.”

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It remains to be seen if President Trump will appoint Cao to the role permanently or if he has someone else in mind.

What do you think?

Who would you like to see fulfill the role of Navy Secretary?