Trump says he is nominating Hung Cao to be Navy secretary
President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he is formally nominating acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao to the permanent position.
The announcement comes one day after Trump accepted the resignation of Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, and four months after former Navy Secretary John C. Phelan was ousted.
"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," Trump wrote in a post on his social media platform.
Cao has been serving in the acting capacity for the past four months, assuming the role in April when Phelan exited the role.
In April, Trump said Phelan left his position because of "conflict" between him and others in the Pentagon over shipbuilding.
Trump said the conflicts weren't with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, but he didn't identify those at DOD that Phelan had conflicts with.
"I really liked him, but he had some conflict with, not necessarily Pete, with some other," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. He's a hard-charger. And he had some conflicts with some other people, mostly as to, building and buying new ships
The secretary of the Navy is the service's top civilian official. The secretary and the Chief of Naval Operations, the Navy's top admiral, are responsible for training and equipping the Navy. They do not have responsibilities for running combat operations.
The president called upon the Senate to confirm Cao "ASAP."
"The Senate needs to confirm this Warfighter, ASAP, so he can continue the fantastic work he has been doing over the past 4 months," Trump said.
