Hung Cao said the military should be filled with ‘alpha males and alpha females.’ Now he’s Trump’s acting Navy secretary
As undersecretary of the Navy, Hung Cao, a retired Navy captain and former Republican Senate candidate in Virginia, was required to have a broad portfolio that included personnel issues and preserving the Navy’s “warrior ethos” as the service’s No. 2 civilian.
But in reality, Cao was frequently excluded from decision-making by his boss, Navy Secretary John Phelan, who “put Cao in a box,” a source familiar with the situation told CNN.
The source said Cao was isolated from the Navy’s decision-making process and was not allowed to represent Phelan at official meetings in which Phelan was not present, something a typical undersecretary would do.
Everything changed after Pehlan sudden dismissal They were appointed as Navy secretaries this week by President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Cao is now in this business on an acting basis. According to the source, he learned of his promotion from the Pentagon’s front office, who called him in and said, “Okay, it’s you, we made a change.”
“He’s quickly learning about all the things he’s not allowed to be involved in,” the source added.
Cao, a decorated special operations officer, takes over as the Navy’s top civilian at a time when the service plays a critical role. Interception of Iranian ships Crossing the Strait of Hormuz. Cao, the 2024 Republican nominee against Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, defended Trump and Hegseth’s attacks on social issues and opposition to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Cao immigrated to the United States as a child after his family fled Vietnam during the Vietnam War.
After retiring from the Navy in 2021, he ran for Congress as a Republican in 2022 and challenged Kaine in 2024, when he was prone to making controversial statements.
“When you use a transvestite to recruit for the Navy, those are not the people we want,” Cao said in response to a question about military recruiting during a 2024 debate with Kaine. “What we need are alpha males and alpha females who will gut themselves, eat them, and ask for seconds. These are the young men and women who will win wars.”
Acting Secretary of the Navy and former Undersecretary of the Navy Hung Cao attended a press conference at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on Friday. -Annabelle Gordon/AFP/Getty Images
In a statement following his appointment as acting secretary, Cao said he would focus on advancing the Navy’s shipbuilding priorities, the issue that contributed to Phelan’s firing.
“I am fully committed to fulfilling the Department of the Navy’s core mission as a leading warfighting organization and providing unwavering support to our warfighters,” Cao said.
Phelan, a businessman and friend of Trump’s campaign fundraiser, was ousted as Navy secretary after months of tension with Hegseth. Hegseth believed that Phelan was moving too slowly in implementing shipbuilding reforms and was also uncomfortable with Phelan’s direct communication with Trump; Hegseth saw this as an attempt to outwit him, CNN previously reported.
It is unclear whether Cao will be nominated to serve as Navy secretary on a permanent basis.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told CNN that Cao “brings battle-tested leadership to the Navy’s highest office” and “represents the relentless courage and America First vision needed to maintain America’s superiority at sea.”
After immigrating to the United States in 1975, Cao and his family moved to West Africa, where his father served as a USAID agricultural specialist, according to his Navy biography. Cao returned to Virginia when he was 12 years old.
He later joined the Navy in 1989 and became an officer after graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1996. Cao worked as a Navy diver and explosive ordnance disposal officer during a career that spanned three decades. Their missions included Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia. He also worked on budgets and acquisitions at the Pentagon.
Cao and Hegseth knew each other before joining the Trump administration, and Cao accompanied Hegseth on a trip to Vietnam in November.
At a 2024 rally in Virginia just days before the November election, Trump praised the Virginia Senate candidate and urged her to join him on stage.
“We are happy to have a great man join us, and I truly believe he will win for the Senate with that name: Hung Cao,” Trump said. Trump won the White House but lost Virginia. Kaine defeats Cao In the Senate race, 54% to 45%.
Cao frequently criticized the Biden administration’s DEI policies in the Senate race, blaming them for the military’s recruiting problems.
“This administration has a growing obsession with DEI. It’s no surprise that we have a recruiting problem in our country and that this continues under the Harris/Walz administration,” Cao said. wrote to x In September 2024.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks alongside U.S. Senate Republican candidate in Virginia Hung Cao at the Truong Tien Restaurant at the Eden Center on August 26, 2024 in Falls Church, Virginia. -Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Cao was confirmed as undersecretary of the Navy on October 1. All Democrats voted against Cao’s nomination, and all Republicans supported him except Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, who voted no.
That same month, Phelan’s chief of staff was fired by Hegseth, in part for his efforts to undermine the Navy secretary’s office before Cao took office, Politico reported last fall.
As undersecretary, Cao was appointed the top defense official of Guam, where Cao’s family first arrived as Vietnamese refugees decades ago. He also presided over recruiting and personnel policy for the Navy, including implementation of Trump’s executive order to reinstate service members discharged from the military in 2021 due to the Covid-19 vaccine mandate.
Cao in January wrote a letter We apologize to the sailors who were discharged from the military due to their tenure.
“Sailors and sailors who were unfairly discharged during Covid, we failed you. We will never let this happen again. Not on my watch,” Cao said. a video He signed his apology letter here. “You are warriors of conscience and we need people like you in the organization again.”
The source familiar with the situation said Cao told Pentagon officials he would not try to get around Trump or Hegseth. “He will provide feedback within the building and loyally support whatever decision the president makes,” the source said.
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