President Donald Trump selected Navy veteran Hung Cao to serve as the Department of the Navy’s number two civilian.
An official Trump administration X account shared a Truth Social post from the president announcing Cao’s nomination to the under secretary position.
“As a refugee to our Great Nation, Hung worked tirelessly to make proud the Country that gave his family a home,” Trump wrote in the Thursday evening post.
“He went to our amazing United States Naval Academy, and later earned his Master’s Degree in Physics. Hung served in combat as a Special Operations Officer for twenty five years. With Hung’s experience both in combat, and in the Pentagon, he will get the job done.”
Cao retired as a captain in the U.S. Navy. He served as a special operations officer for explosive ordnance disposal and diving, according to a biography on his Senate campaign website. Cao ran for a Senate in Virginia in 2024, but lost to Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.). He previously lost a House election in 2022 to former Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.).
While campaigning for the Senate seat, Cao attributed the military’s recruitment challenges to the Biden administration’s diversity, equity and inclusion polices. During the debate with Kaine, the moderator asked Cao how DEI policies are hurting military recruitment.
“When you’re using a drag queen to recruit for the Navy, that’s not the people we want,” Cao replied. “What we need is alpha males and alpha females who are going to rip out their own guts, eat them and ask for seconds. Those are young men and women that are going to win wars.”
Cao was referencing a 2022-2023 Navy recruitment effort that featured a sailor who dresses in drag.
Cao also spoke out against the Pentagon’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate that led to the separation of service members who refused the vaccine. After Congress passed the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act directing the Pentagon to rescind the mandate, the administration allowed separated service members to rejoin the military. The Pentagon at the time did not create a new policy for service members who were separated. The Trump administration issued an executive order last month directing the Pentagon to reinstate all service members who were separated and want to rejoin the military.
