We have yet another nomination that is sure to cause a stir if not an outright fight. On the day before the primary start of what most will take as a long and happy Thanksgiving weekend, President-elect Donald Trump tapped John Phelan – an investment banker and art collector to be Secretary of the Navy. We can safely guess that Phelan has boating experience – he surely owns a luxury dingy, but we know with certainty that Phelan has no experience in the mighty U.S. Navy. Most recent naval appointments have been former officers in our Navy. Phelan has no military experience at all, ensuring another controversy even before people then consider the fact that he is also a major Trump donor.
This is not to say that Phelan hasn’t excelled in what he has done in the past. As Mediaite reports, Trump praised his new choice in a Truth Social post:
“John has excelled in every endeavor, from founding and leading Rugger Management LLC, to co-founding MSD Capital, LP, the Private Investment Firm for Michael Dell, CEO of Dell Technologies. His Record of Success speaks for itself – A true Champion of American Enterprise and Ingenuity!”
Okay – he has made a lot of money but if one is going to look over Warren Buffet’s resume it likely wouldn’t mention that he managed investments for “Michael Dell, CEO of… ” Or anyone else. But that might be stylistic. Trump had more:
“John’s intelligence and leadership are unmatched. John holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School, and is a truly brilliant guy! His incredible knowledge and experience will elevate the lives of the brave Americans who serve our Nation. John will deliver real results for our Navy and our Country. I look forward to working with him.”
Yes. Except Einstein was also a brilliant guy but turned down the invitation to be the President of Israel – knowing better. I would beg Ben Carson to spend 12 hours operating on my baby daughter’s brain if needed – absolutely. But I would not trust him to watch her for two hours. Experience matters and genius comes in many types – success in one endeavor means nothing in others. That is why we generally appoint people to offices similar to those in which someone had past success.
The lack of real experience has plagued Trump’s nominations throughout – now something we’ve come to expect. There are exceptions in Marco Rubio – State Department, Pam Bondi – Attorney General, and even Scott Bessent as incoming Treasury Secretary, all have the resume expected even amidst other highly relevant considerations.
Of course, it is not unheard of to reward big donors with nice positions. But those are usually left to things like being ambassador to Spain or something equally comfy – a job that one would literally have to work to screw up. (Even if – in an ideal world, it would be far better to have a lifelong State Department official in the position.) But anything with oversight of our military is far too important to pass over experience if available – a personal history with the Navy certainly doesn’t guarantee success but it would be a big indicator. This is especially important now with the world on the brink of war.
Mediaite reports on the dynamic between Trump and Phelan:
Phelan, an avid art collector, was a major donor to the president-elect this election cycle and reportedly hosted Trump at his $38 million Aspen home during the campaign. At the event, Trump went on a profanity-riddled tirade against immigrants and claimed that if Vice President Kamala Harris wins, it “could be the last election we ever have.”
Okay. We will turn down the invitation to mock the art collector thing as too cliche and – given we’re talking about relevant experience, it’s not helpful to spend a moment on the truly irrelevant. Phelan is a big donor which inevitably leads to the appearance of a quid pro quo, a position for cash. Inevitable in some ways. It gets worse in the face of no experience in the military.
Phelan certainly has had past success. We don’t know anything about any scandals or anything else that will be considered by the Senate. He could easily succeed. We should hope that he does. It is just that one could and would have a lot more faith that success is inevitable based on similar experience.
Let the controversy begin.
God Bless: I can be reached at [email protected] and @JasonMiciak and on Blue Sky – not full of ads, nor fights.
There is no governance.
There is only grift.
But I’m sure he’ll be the best SecNav money can buy. Or is it the other way round?
So, Trump wants to turn his DOJ on Army generals and other personnel that *HE* thinks “failed” in the Afghanistan withdrawal (even going so far as suggesting they committed “treason”–not that Dumb Donald knows what that charge really entails, considering his ILLEGAL possession of government documents after leaving the White House in Jan of 2021) but he turns around and wants to nominate someone with ZERO naval experience to be Secretary of the Navy.
Yep. That tracks.