Rocky tenure under Hegseth
The Wall Street Journal, citing US officials, reported that Phelan was fired after months of simmering tensions with Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Phelan’s firing comes after a rocky tenure under Hegseth and Deputy Defence Secretary Steve Feinberg, including tension over Phelan’s close relationship with Trump, according to three people familiar with the internal discussions, the report said.
The top Pentagon leaders were particularly annoyed last fall when Phelan pitched the idea for a modern battleship directly to Trump, bypassing Hegseth, the people said, according to the report.
In early April, the Pentagon announced that Gen. Randy A. George will retire from his role as the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army “effective immediately.”
More than a dozen senior military officers have been fired by Hegseth, including Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. C.Q. Brown Jr., Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti, Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James Slife and Defense Intelligence Agency head Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse.
According to local media reports, Phelan is the 34th military officer that Hegseth has fired since taking office.
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