A New York Times report on Thursday revealed more details behind what led to President Donald Trump's decision to fire Navy Secretary John Phelan.
Trump apparently wanted Phelan to deliver on building a new class of battleships by 2028, but "the timeline was nearly impossible," according to The Times.
Trump had even bragged about the planned ships, saying just days before Christmas at Mar-a-Lago, what he anticipated they would be.
"They’ll be the fastest, the biggest and by far — 100 times more powerful than any battleship ever built," Trump said.
But Phelan didn't act fast enough for Trump.
He "struggled to come up with a plan to deliver the ships on the nearly impossible timeline that Mr. Trump has demanded, senior defense and administration officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters," The Times reported.
And in recent weeks, Pentagon in-fighting mounted.
"The breaking point for Mr. Phelan, who often said that he and Mr. Trump texted and talked on the phone regularly, came in the last two weeks as the president’s frustration over Mr. Phelan’s management of his prized battleship program grew and Mr. Phelan’s enemies in the Pentagon, including Mr. Hegseth and Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen A. Feinberg, mounted a campaign to force him out," according to The Times.