WASHINGTON — President Trump’s acting Navy secretary, in a profanity-laced reprimand delivered Monday, criticized sailors aboard the stricken aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt for cheering their captain, who was removed after he appealed for help as coronavirus spread throughout the warship.
The Navy’s top civilian, Thomas B. Modly, delivered his message over the ship’s loudspeaker system and deepened the raw us-versus-them atmosphere that had already engulfed the carrier. It also exposed the schism between a commander in chief with little regard for the military’s chain of command and the uniformed Navy that is sworn to follow him.
Like much in the Trump administration, what began as a seemingly straightforward challenge — the arrival of coronavirus onboard a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier — has now engulfed the military, leading to far-reaching questions of undue command influence and the demoralization of young men and women who promise to protect the country. At its heart, the crisis aboard the Theodore Roosevelt has become a window into what matters, and what does not, in an administration where remaining on the right side of a mercurial president is valued above all else.
The crew of the Roosevelt had already registered its discontent with the Trump administration’s decision to remove the commander, by cheering for Capt. Brett E. Crozier as he walked down the gangway last week and left the ship.
His letter to Navy officials pleading for help became public, prompting Mr. Modly to say he had lost confidence in Captain Crozier for both leadership failures and for going outside the chain of command with his critique.
Mr. Modly, Navy officials say, then was angered about what he viewed as a public rebuke from the crew, and flew 8,000 miles to Guam to vent his ire to the sailors himself, according to audio recordings of the address that members of the crew shared with The New York Times and other news organizations.
By airing his concerns in a letter through unclassified channels, Captain Crozier showed that he was either “too naïve or too stupid to be a commanding officer of a ship like this,” Mr. Modly told the crew, some of whom said later that they were stunned by the remarks. “I understand you love the guy. It’s good that you love him. But you’re not required to love him.”
He complained that Captain Crozier’s letter about coronavirus on the ship caused a political headache in Guam.
“Think about that when you cheer the man off the ship who exposed you to that,” Mr. Modly said, according to the recordings.