President Trump made a big announcement Tuesday evening: he is nominating Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao to take on the job permanently, calling the decorated combat veteran a "true WARRIOR" and urging the Senate to confirm him "ASAP."

The president made the announcement in a Truth Social post:

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. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP

Cao has actually been running the Navy on an acting basis since April 22, when former Secretary of the Navy John Phelan departed the Trump administration. Before that, Cao served as under secretary of the Navy, a position to which he was confirmed by the Senate in a 52-45 vote back in October of 2025.

Hung Cao is a Vietnamese refugee who came to the U.S. after the fall of Saigon and went on to serve more than 30 years in the Navy, including as a Navy diver and explosive ordnance disposal officer. He deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia and retired in 2021 as a captain before starting a career in politics.

RedState readers will, of course, remember Cao from Virginia politics. He unsuccessfully challenged Democrat Rep. Jennifer Wexton in Virginia's 10th Congressional District in 2022 and then took on Sen. Tim Kaine in the 2024 U.S. Senate race – again, unsuccessfully – before President Trump brought him into his second administration.

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Since taking over as acting secretary back in April, Cao has prioritized President Trump’s agenda of rebuilding American military strength and restoring U.S. dominance at sea. He has helped advance the administration’s “Golden Fleet” shipbuilding push and put a renewed emphasis on maintaining a warfighting culture across the Navy and Marine Corps.