Trump’s Navy secretary nominee once made controversial comments about military recruitment

By Kaanita Iyer, Alejandra Jaramillo, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump has nominated acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao for the permanent position — a move that, if confirmed by the Senate, would elevate a former GOP Senate candidate who once said that the US military needs “alpha males and alpha females.”

“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 Truth Social post.

“The Senate needs to confirm this Warfighter, ASAP,” Trump added.

The nomination now heads to the Senate, where Republicans hold a razor-thin majority.

Cao thanked the president for the nomination in a post on X, adding, “It’s an honor of a lifetime to lead the great warriors of the Navy and Marine Corps team. I’m grateful for your leadership and support as we continue to get after shipbuilding and ensure the defense of the homeland.”

The previous Navy secretary, John Phelan, was fired amid tension with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over his implementation of shipbuilding reform and his close relationship with Trump.

Cao, a retired Navy captain and the former Navy undersecretary, has been serving in the service’s top civilian role in an acting capacity since Phelan’s ouster in April.

Cao ran for Congress in Virginia in 2022 after leaving the Navy and then ran an unsuccessful, Trump-backed bid to oust the state’s Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine in 2024.

During a 2024 debate with Kaine, Cao gave a controversial answer to a question about military recruiting.

“When you’re using a drag queen to recruit for the Navy, that’s not the people we want,” Cao said. “What we need is alpha males and alpha females who are going to rip out their own guts, eat ’em and ask for seconds. Those are young men and women that are going to win wars.”

His previous comments are in line with Hegseth’s reshaping of US military culture. The defense secretary has focused on culture wars, prioritizing his own image of the “American warfighter” and pushing “warrior ethos.”

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told CNN that Cao is a “proven leader who would bring substantial operational and institutional experience to the Department of the Navy if confirmed.”

Cao’s portfolio as undersecretary included being the senior defense official for Guam, where Cao’s family first arrived decades earlier as refugees after fleeing the Vietnam war. He also headed up recruitment and personnel policy for the Navy, including implementing Trump’s executive order to reinstate service members who were discharged from the military over its Covid-19 vaccine mandate in 2021.

But during his tenure as the deputy, Cao was often cut out of decision-making by his boss, one source familiar with the situation previously told CNN, who said Phelan put Cao “in a box.”

He wasn’t allowed to represent Phelan in official meetings that Phelan didn’t attend, something a typical undersecretary would do, the source said.

Cao is a decorated special operations officer. Over a three-decade career, Cao worked as a Navy diver and explosive ordnance disposal officer. His deployments included Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia. He also had a stint at the Pentagon working on budgets and acquisitions.

CNN has reached out to the Navy for comment.

This story has been updated with additional details.

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CNN’s Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, Jeremy Herb and Haley Britzky contributed to this report.