Donald Trump fires US Navy chief amid blockade of Strait of Hormuz

James Saunders
Wed, 22 Apr 2026 22:51:01 +0000

The civilian head of the US Navy has been fired nine days into the American blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

Navy Secretary John C Phelan was confirmed to have left his job on Wednesday.

The Pentagon said in a statement that Mr Phelan was "departing the administration, effective immediately," without providing further details

It was later revealed by Reuters that he had been sacked.

TRENDING

Stories

Videos

Your Say

The Navy's civilian second-in-command, Undersecretary Hung Cao, will take over as acting secretary.

Mr Phelan had not served in the military, nor did he have a civilian leadership role in the Navy, before he was nominated for Secretary in 2024.

And only on Tuesday, he addressed a large crowd of sailors and industry chiefs at the navy's annual conference in Washington DC.

It comes just weeks after War Secretary Pete Hegseth ousted the Army's top general over "tensions" with US military bosses.

While last year, the previous chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General CQ Brown, as well as the chief of naval operations and Air Force vice chief of staff, were all shown the exit door.

Earlier on Wednesday, White House press chief Karoline Leavitt said the President was "satisfied" with the naval blockade, and "understands Iran is in a very weak position".

"The cards are in President Trump's hands right now," she added, and cautioned that reports of an up-to-five-day deadline for the extended ceasefire were "not true".

Asked how long the war will continue, Ms Leavitt said that was a matter for Mr Trump - who will do so "when he feels it's in the best interests of the United States and the American people".

"We are completely strangling their economy through this blockade, they're losing $500million a day," she continued.

"Kharg Island is completely full, they can't move oil in and out. They can't even pay their own people as a result of this economic leverage that President Trump has inflicted over them."

READ MORE ON IRAN:

Donald Trump opens door to 'blowing up the rest of Iran' just hours after extending ceasefire

Rachel Reeves considers war bonds to fund £17.6billion defence spending push

'It didn't go well for them!' US forces blow a hole in hulking Iranian ship - then seize it

But that morning, Iran targeted three cargo ships and seized two during passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

Tehran went on to issued the US a stark warning that the ceasefire means "nothing".

Iran's parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said a full ceasefire only made sense if the US blockade was lifted - while reopening the strait was impossible with such a "flagrant breach of the ceasefire".

In a show of defiance, Iran showcased its ballistic weapons at a parade in Tehran on Tuesday evening, with images on state TV showing large crowds waving Iranian flags and a banner in the background with a fist choking off the strait.

Captions read: "Indefinitely under Iran's Control" and "Trump could not do a damn thing", referring to the strait, which Iran has effectively shut to ships other than its own by attacking vessels that attempt to transit without its permission.

The Revolutionary Guards accused the seized ships, the Liberia-flagged Epaminondas and Panama-flagged MSC Francesca, of operating without required permits and tampering with their navigation systems.

Though Ms Leavitt said the seizures did not violate the ceasefire.

"These were not US ships, these were not Israeli ships," she said - though accused the Iranians are "acting like a bunch of pirates".

Asked whether American fores could consider striking the boats, she says the US "could", and that the President has "many options" on the table.

But she added that the seizures were only carried out by a pair of small boats - and Iran's navy is otherwise "obliterated".