John Phelan is President-elect Donald Trump's pick for secretary of the Navy[1], the first service leadership position that the incoming administration has announced as it prepares to put its stamp on the military.
In a post to his social media site[2], Truth Social, Trump said that he is naming Phelan, a financier who appears to have no military experience or experience working on military policy and has never worked for a large defense contractor, to lead the Navy.
The Navy secretary serves as the civilian leader of the military's second-largest branch and is responsible for the health and well-being of more than 1 million sailors, Marines, reservists and civilian personnel, as well as managing an annual budget of more than $250 billion while ensuring the Navy is able to execute critical national security missions.
Phelan was a massive donor to Trump and Republicans in 2024.
Federal Election Commission records show that, among his many political contributions, Phelan donated $834,600 to Trump's joint fundraising committee in April. Days after the election, on Nov. 10, he would donate another $93,300, records show.
Phelan also donated $371,700 to the Republican National Committee and another $370,000 to 37 different Republican state committees all on a single day in April.
Phelan hosted Trump at one of his homes for a private fundraiser over the summer where, according to The Guardian[4], the then-candidate for president went on a expletive-laced rant about immigration and threatened that the 2024 election "could be the last election we ever have" if Vice President Kamala Harris won.
While it is not unusual for service secretaries to have been major fundraisers or donors prior to assuming their duties, what is unusual about Phelan is his lack of any military experience.
The last Navy secretary to have no connection to the military was Donald Winter, who served in the George W. Bush administration from 2006 to 2009. However, Winter's resume included work for the Pentagon and top defense contractors. Before being selected for the job, Winter was the head of a branch of Northrop Grumman, one of the top 10 largest defense contractors used by the Pentagon.
"John will be a tremendous force for our naval service members and a steadfast leader in advancing my America First vision," Trump said in his statement, adding that Phelan "will put the business of the U.S. Navy above all else."
Trump boasted about Phelan's work in running a private investment firm for Michael Dell, the founder of the computing giant Dell Technologies and argued that "his record of success speaks for itself."
In addition to his work in finance, Phelan is a well-known art collector[5], appearing on ARTnews' Top 200 collectors list in 2024.
Since the beginning of the modern structure of the Defense Department following World War II, only five of the 28 confirmed Navy secretaries had no military or government service in their past.
Of those five, one secretary -- Gordon England -- had been a top executive at General Dynamics and Lockheed before being named to the top Navy job. His nomination and service came under Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who was a proponent of picking people with CEO experience[6] to run the services. However, those choices were controversial at the time, and one of his picks for Army secretary ended up being blocked by the Senate.
In addition to his work as an investment banker, Phelan sits on the board[7] of the nonprofit organization "Spirit of America" which, according to its website[8], is a nonpartisan organization that is "recognized by Congress" and has "an agreement with the Department of Defense that allows U.S. troops to collaborate with us to build goodwill and deliver assistance at scale."
"We fill the gaps between what government can do and what is needed," the site says.
Trump's move to tap Phelan to helm the Navy comes on the heels of another unorthodox pick -- Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News personality, for secretary of defense. While Hegseth's 13-year stint as an infantry officer in the National Guard[9] gives him some military bona fides, his lack of defense policy chops or experience in large-scale military planning has drawn scrutiny. The pick does, however, underscore Trump's key campaign promise for disruption. Hegseth has also faced scrutiny for a sexual assault allegation from 2017[10] that could see center stage during his confirmation hearing.
How Trump has selected his military leaders so far underscores his instincts to favor loyalty and media savvy over traditional qualifications for key positions. Hegseth has been a staunch defender of Trump on Fox News and has positioned himself as a culture warrior. He has frequently lambasted the services for allowing women in combat-arms roles and wrote that the military has turned off "young, patriotic, Christian men" in a book he published last summer.
Meanwhile, Trump has also selected Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence, where she would oversee the CIA, National Security Agency and other intelligence agencies. Gabbard, a lieutenant colonel in the Army[11] Reserve, is currently the commander of 1st Battalion, 354th Regiment, a drill sergeant unit.
