A day after former Navy Secretary John Phelan was dismissed, President Donald Trump revealed he had given the Navy a major set of new orders.
The White House officially announced Wednesday that Phelan was leaving his post, but Fox News reported that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth had fired Phelan.
It was unclear if there was any connection between Phelan’s departure and Trump’s Thursday post, in which he said he issued an order that could lead to the Navy firing on Iranian vessels.
“I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they may be (Their naval ships are ALL, 159 of them, at the bottom of the sea!), that is putting mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“There is to be no hesitation,” Trump wrote.
“Additionally, our mine ‘sweepers’ are clearing the Strait right now. I am hereby ordering that activity to continue, but at a tripled up level!” Trump added.
Iran Sorely Miscalculated
“Iran’s decades-long bluff—built on terror proxies, nuclear brinkmanship, and Western appeasement—collapsed the moment it faced direct force and a changed geopolitical landscape.”https://t.co/y6wg9UcndG
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) April 23, 2026
A report in The New York Times said Phelan clashed repeatedly with Hegseth and Deputy Secretary of War Stephen Feinberg, citing sources it did not name. The report noted that Phelan had little to do with deployments and was more focused on building ships for the future of the Navy.
The outlet said Feinberg was unhappy with Phelan’s shipbuilding efforts. The report also said Phelan clashed with Navy Under Secretary Hung Cao.
Trump’s order came as American forces seized a tanker laden with oil that was trying to run the American blockade of Iranian ports, according to a War Department post on X.
Overnight, U.S. forces carried out a maritime interdiction and right-of-visit boarding of the sanctioned stateless vessel M/T Majestic X transporting oil from Iran, in the Indian Ocean within the INDOPACOM area of responsibility.
We will continue global maritime enforcement to… pic.twitter.com/SWF6Jt9Ci4
— Department of War 🇺🇸 (@DeptofWar) April 23, 2026
“Overnight, U.S. forces carried out a maritime interdiction and right-of-visit boarding of the sanctioned stateless vessel M/T Majestic X transporting oil from Iran, in the Indian Ocean within the INDOPACOM area of responsibility,” the post said.
“We will continue global maritime enforcement to disrupt illicit networks and interdict vessels providing material support to Iran, wherever they operate,” the post added.
“International waters cannot be used as a shield by sanctioned actors. The Department of War will continue to deny illicit actors and their vessels freedom of maneuver in the maritime domain,” it continued.
President Trump has given Iran every opportunity to make peace – but given the nature of this regime, it’s hard to imagine it will make any of the concessions we need to conclude the war on terms that secure our interests. pic.twitter.com/ioK8QXUXrl
— Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) April 22, 2026
The War Department had posted on Tuesday that another sanctioned tanker, the M/T Tifani, had been stopped on the high seas as part of the blockade.
To date, U.S. Central Command has said 31 ships have been turned back by American forces maintaining the blockade.
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