Trump announces nomination of Hung Cao as SECNAV

President Donald Trump announced Tuesday evening that he’s nominating Hung Cao to serve as secretary of the Navy on a permanent basis.

Cao has been acting SECNAV since April when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth forced out then-Navy Secretary John Phelan. Cao was serving as the Senate-confirmed undersecretary of the Navy prior to Phelan’s ouster. In the undersecretary role he was tasked as the chief management officer with leading and synchronizing the modernization of the Navy’s unclassified IT systems and critical defense business systems.

Since becoming acting secretary, Cao has prioritized modernization and shipbuilding, among other initiatives.

Just last week, he announced the launch of the department’s Office of the Defense Industrial Base, which will be tasked with leading efforts to bolster supply chains and accelerate the delivery of dual-use technologies.

In July, he unveiled a new “Strategy to Weaponize Data and Artificial Intelligence” and plans to stand up a new AI War Council.

As SECNAV, he has also cautioned sailors, Marines and Department of the Navy civilians to stay vigilant in a new, complex threat environment, issuing an administrative message last month in which he warned about a “coordinated, multi-domain” campaign against personnel and installations.

Cao is a U.S. Naval Academy graduate and was commissioned as a special operations officer, serving as a diver and explosive ordnance technician. He deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan during the post-9/11 wars and had a long career in uniform. After leaving the Navy, he ran unsuccessfully for U.S. House and Senate seats as a Republican candidate in Virginia during the 2022 and 2024 election cycles, respectively.

“I am pleased to nominate a true WARRIOR, Hung Cao, to become the next Secretary of the Navy. We need Patriots like Hung leading our Navy and Marine Corps, and I can think of no one better than him to make sure our Great Navy and Marine Corps remain the FIERCEST and BEST Force the World has ever seen. The Senate needs to confirm this Warfighter, ASAP, so he can continue the fantastic work he has been doing over the past 4 months,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform.

In a separate post on social media Tuesday evening, Cao thanked Trump for selecting him for the SECNAV role.

“It’s an honor of a lifetime to lead the great warriors of the Navy and Marine Corps team. I’m grateful for your leadership and support as we continue to get after shipbuilding and ensure the defense of the homeland,” Cao wrote.

It’s unclear when the Senate Armed Services Committee will schedule a confirmation hearing for Cao.