President Donald Trump has nominated Hung Cao for Navy undersecretary, a combat veteran and hard-line congressional candidate who has pushed for a military of “alpha males and alpha females.”
Trump called Cao “the embodiment of the American Dream,” when announcing his choice on Truth Social. “With Hung’s experience both in combat and in the Pentagon, he will get the job done.”
Cao, a refugee from Vietnam who immigrated to the U.S. as a child, served 25 years in the Navy, including deployments in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia. Cao also had noncombat assignments in collaboration with the Navy at the Homeland Security Department and FBI.
He entered politics after retiring at the rank of captain, running unsuccessfully for Virginia’s 10th Congressional District in 2022 and losing a challenge to Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) last year.
Cao’s opposition to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the military will fit in with the Trump administration’s efforts to purge it. But they will likely spark a confirmation fight with Democrats.
He’s taken specific aim at a Navy recruiting program that included a drag-performing petty officer and which ended in April 2023 amid Republican criticism.
“When you’re using a drag queen to recruit from the Navy, that’s not the people you want,” Cao said while debating Kaine last year. “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 also advocates strengthening U.S. borders, a mission the military has been increasingly drawn into under this administration.
“I spent my entire life defending democracy,” he said during the debate. “What’s happening at our border, our southern border, when 13,000 convicted murders and 16,000 convicted rapists are coming through? What’s happening on our campuses when they shout ‘death to America?’ That’s a threat to our democracy.”
Kaine, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Seapower subcommittee, will have the opportunity to scrutinize Cao’s nomination and, if he is confirmed, work with him on naval matters.
Cao would help steer a Navy facing increased competition from China. It’s also up against pressure to expand an aging fleet while shipbuilding is delayed and over budget — challenges that have gotten Trump’s attention.
