Donald Trump said he plans to put forward acting United States Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao as his choice to hold the post permanently.
The move comes during a turbulent stretch for the Pentagon’s senior ranks, with Trump’s military leadership team facing repeated shake-ups this year. The latest came with Army Secretary Dan Driscoll’s resignation following tensions involving Pete Hegseth.
In a Monday post on Truth Social, Trump praised Cao as the kind of “Patriot” he wants guiding the Navy and Marine Corps, saying he believes Cao is well suited to keep the services among the strongest and most formidable military forces in the world.
Trump also pointed to Cao’s record since stepping into the acting Navy secretary role in April, highlighting what he described as strong work during his temporary tenure.
Calling Cao a “Warfighter,” Trump urged the Senate to move quickly on his confirmation so he can continue the work he has carried out over the past four months.
Cao on social media called it the ‘honor of a lifetime to lead the great warriors of the Navy and Marine Corps team.’
He would require a majority in the Senate to vote for him to take the job permanently.
A Trump loyalist, Cao is a 25-year Navy combat veteran who ran unsuccessful campaigns for the US Senate and House in Virginia.
The Daily Mail has reached out to the Pentagon and the Navy for comment.
Donald Trump announced that he will nominate acting United States Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao (pictured) to take the job on a permanent basis
A Trump loyalist, Cao is a 25-year Navy combat veteran who ran unsuccessful campaigns for the US Senate and House in Virginia
John C. Phelan, the last permanent Secretary, was ousted from his role in April after a disagreement over Trump’s plan for building a ‘Golden Fleet’ of military vessels.
‘The administration really wanted to accelerate the shipbuilding program because of the president’s agenda … and the secretary seemed incapable of accomplishing those goals and he wasn’t well liked,’ a source told The New York Post.
‘When you combine incompetence with arrogance it usually doesn’t end well.’
The Golden Fleet proposal includes building a new class of 30,000–40,000 ton, nuclear-capable ‘Trump-class’ battleships, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Phelan’s resignation came just weeks after the Army’s highest ranking officer, General Randy George, was told to step down and take immediate retirement.
Cao´s nomination comes amid concerns that Trump has been stretching the limits of aircraft carriers as the US fights Iran and engages in other conflicts.
He attended a tense town hall last month for families of troops aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, a carrier whose extended deployment raised mental health concerns among sailors.
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Cao faced controversy last week when The Daily Mail reported a history of questionable combat disability claims, bizarre witchcraft warnings and racist remarks – including about his own people.
Cao enrolled in the US Navy in 1989 and spent more than 30 years in the service, seeing active duty in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia
Cao’s son followed in his footsteps when he entered the US Naval Academy in 2024
Hegseth has purged more than a dozen senior officers, including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General C.Q. Brown, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the Air Force Vice Chief of Staff General James Slife and the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse.
Departing Army Secretary Driscoll appeared to fully burn his bridges with Hegseth on his way out, badmouthing him to Trump after months of a rumored rift.
Driscoll became the latest powerful name in Washington to step down on Monday as the White House announced his imminent departure.
The secretary met with President Trump last week and unloaded his concerns about how the Secretary of Defense is managing the Army, The Atlantic reported.
Sources told the magazine that Trump was surprised by how many military leaders and generals were fired or forced out or denied promotions by Hegseth.
Trump was reportedly concerned by what Driscoll described as deep cuts to senior leadership in the Army and the force’s inability to complete a needed transformation.
Driscoll ended the meeting by telling the President that he was set to resign.
A person familiar with Driscoll’s resignation said the secretary ‘brought up concerns with the administration surrounding Army transformation and readiness and Hegseth’s blocking those efforts specifically by firing the Generals who were responsible.’
The President has dealt with significant upheaval among military leadership this year, most recently the resignation of Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll over friction with Pete Hegseth (pictured right)
Departing Army Secretary Driscoll (pictured) appeared to fully burn his bridges with Hegseth on his way out, badmouthing him to Trump after months of a rumored rift
One defense official believes Driscoll will be replaced by a Hegseth loyalist and will allow the Pentagon chief to do ‘generational damage.’
Sources also suggested Driscoll and Hegseth clashed over their ambitions, with Driscoll reportedly often telling people that he was close with Vice President JD Vance and even wanted to run for president himself someday.
Hegseth himself denied reports he was preparing to run in 2028 late last week.
The Secretary of Defense also reportedly disliked that Driscoll fostered good relationships with the media and tech executives, which garnered him additional roles within the Trump administration.
‘The United States Army is more powerful than ever thanks to his work alongside the Commander-in-Chief and Secretary of War,’ White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told The Atlantic in a statement, while adding that Driscoll had been ‘highly effective’ in his service.