Sacked Navy secretary refused to leave post until Trump told him direct

NewsWorldAmericasUS politicsSacked Navy secretary refused to leave post until Trump told him directLatest military leader to lose their job under Hegseth attempted to ask president directly to keep role, reports saySophie Clark Friday 24 April 2026 11:30 BSTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":true,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b2964232","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/john-phelan-trump-sacked-navy-hegseth-b2964232.html","title":"Sacked Navy secretary refused to leave post until Trump told him direct"}}CloseNavy Secretary ousted in latest top military departure from Trump administration as US wages war in IranSign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington emailGet our free Inside Washington emailEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"regSourceNewsletter":"IND_INSIDE_WASHINGTON","regTitle":"Inside Washington","subscriptionGroup":"inside_washington","subscriptionGroupId":"af764e04-87eb-45e6-a84b-a7455ba70a1e","type":"inside_washington","pathPrefix":"/news/world/americas/us-politics","associatedAuthors":["Eric Garcia","John Bowden"],"title":"Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox","mobileTitle":"Get our free Inside Washington email","imageSrc":"https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/images/newsletters/insideWashington1_1.png","label":"I would like to receive morning headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts by email","newsletterKey":"receiveInsideWashingtonNews","regSourceSection":"US politics","regSourceMethod":"NSCs"},"isClim...