Trump Picks Businessman and Art Collector John Phelan For Head of Navy Despite Lack of Experience

President-elect Donald Trump recently announced that businessman and Top 200 collector John Phelan will lead the US Navy, despite no prior military experience.

Phelan is the founder and chairman of the private investment firm Rugger Management and was a major donor to Trump’s 2024 campaign. In addition to a private fundraising dinner in Aspen which raised $12 million, Phelan donated more than $1.8 million to Republican candidates, parties, and political action committees (PACs) for the 2024 election cycle, according to data released by the Federal Election Commission.

“John will be a tremendous force for our Naval Servicemembers, and a steadfast leader in advancing my America First vision,” Trump wrote in a statement on November 26. “He will put the business of the U.S. Navy above all else.”

The statement cited Phelan’s experience as co-founder of MSD Capital, the private investment firm for Dell Technologies founder Michael Dell and his MBA from Harvard Business School. Phelan has no prior experience in the military.

Trump selected Phelan after a series of interviews at Mar-a-Lago in late November over other candidates considered for the senior position, including Representative Mike Garcia, a retired naval aviator; and retired Representative Ronny Jackson, who served as chief medical advisor during the former president’s first term, according to a report from Politico, which first broke the news.

In April, the Phelans hosted a fundraising dinner at their $38 million home in Aspen, Colorado six days after the couple made most of their political donations. According to The Guardian, attendees were required to donate $25,000 to $500,000 per couple in order to attend, and the guests included the casino mogul Steve Wynn, billionaire businessman Thomas Peterffy, Texas governor Greg Abbott, Florida congressman Byron Donalds, Colorado congresswoman Lauren Boebert and former Colorado senator Cory Gardner.

Phelan’s largest disclosed donations were a total of $927,900 to Trump’s joint fundraising committee as well as $413,000 each to the Republican National Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Phelan also donated $25,000 to Grow the Majority, a joint fundraising committee for Republican running for House seats; $16,700 to the National Republican Congressional Committee; as well as $10,000 each to 38 different state Republican parties and the territory of Guam.

John’s wife Amy also donated more than $1.2 million to Republican campaigns in the 2024 election cycle, including $930,000 to Trump’s joint fundraising committee and $48,800 to the Republican National Committee.

The Phelans are also part of ARTnews‘ Top 200 list of art collectors for 2024. Their collection is focused on contemporary art and includes works by Andreas Gursky, Lisa Yuskavage, Cindy Sherman, Richard Prince, Jenny Holzer, Marilyn Minter, as well as others. The works are displayed at the couple’s ranch in Aspen, Colorado and their home Palm Beach, Florida.

The Phelans added to their art collection this year with an iteration of the late Nobuo Sekine’s Phase of Nothingness (1969/2020, above).

The Phelans’ support of the arts extends to the Aspen Art Museum, where John is a board member and Amy serves on the national council, as well as the couple’s membership on the North American acquisitions council of the Tate museums and the contemporary art council of the Museum of Modern Art.

The Phelans’ home in Aspen was also the location of a gala for amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, in 2022. Approximately 380 people attended and the event raised $5.3 million.