{"id":84170,"date":"2026-04-25T13:51:22","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T13:51:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/hung-cao-said-the-military-should-be-filled-with-alpha-males-and-alpha-females-now-hes-trumps-acting-navy-secretary\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T13:51:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T13:51:22","slug":"hung-cao-said-the-military-should-be-filled-with-alpha-males-and-alpha-females-now-hes-trumps-acting-navy-secretary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/hung-cao-said-the-military-should-be-filled-with-alpha-males-and-alpha-females-now-hes-trumps-acting-navy-secretary\/","title":{"rendered":"Hung Cao said the military should be filled with \u2018alpha males and alpha females.\u2019 Now he\u2019s Trump\u2019s acting Navy secretary"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div xmlns:default=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">As undersecretary of the Navy, Hung Cao, a retired Navy captain and former Republican Senate candidate in Virginia, was supposed to have a broad portfolio as the service\u2019s No. 2 civilian, which included personnel issues and safeguarding the Navy\u2019s \u201cwarfighter ethos.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">But in reality, Cao was often cut out of decision-making by his boss, Navy Secretary John Phelan, one source familiar with the situation told CNN, who said Phelan put Cao \u201cin a box\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Cao was isolated from Navy decision making and wasn\u2019t allowed to represent Phelan in official meetings that Phelan didn\u2019t attend, something a typical undersecretary would do, the source said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">That all changed following Pehlan\u2019s sudden ouster as Navy secretary by President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth this week. Cao is now in the job on an acting basis. He learned about his promotion from the Pentagon front office, which called him in and said, \u201cOk, you\u2019re it \u2014 we made a change,\u201d according to the source.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cHe\u2019s quickly coming up to speed on all the things he wasn\u2019t allowed to be involved in,\u201d the source added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">A decorated special operations officer, Cao takes over as the Navy\u2019s top civilian at a time when the service is playing a critical role in stopping Iranian ships from traversing the Strait of Hormuz. As the 2024 Republican nominee against Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, Cao championed Trump and Hegseth\u2019s attacks on social issues and opposition to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Cao immigrated to the US as a child after his family fled Vietnam during the Vietnam War.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">After retiring from the Navy in 2021, he ran for Congress as a Republican in 2022 and challenged Kaine in 2024, where he had a penchant for making controversial statements.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cWhen you\u2019re using a drag queen to recruit for the Navy, that\u2019s not the people we want,\u201d Cao said at a 2024 debate with Kaine in response to a question about military recruiting. \u201cWhat we need is alpha males and alpha females who are going to rip out their own guts, eat \u2019em and ask for seconds. Those are young men and women that are going to win wars.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"Acting Navy Secretary and former Under Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao attends a press briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on Friday. - Annabelle Gordon\/AFP\/Getty Images\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/faqZrvufLPjQ78bV7GYTkw--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/cnn_articles_875\/83e543b4f6ff78c3f739e21382faf560\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-3 right-3 rounded-full bg-primary p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-primary\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><default:svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" class=\"flex-none size-4 -scale-x-100 text-primary lg:size-6 [&amp;_path]:fill-current\"><default:path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M3.1 3.1V11h1.8V6.314l5.392 5.393 1.415-1.414L6.313 4.9H11V3.1zm17.8 17.8V13h-1.8v4.686l-5.393-5.393-1.415 1.414 5.393 5.393H13v1.8z\"\/><\/default:svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed bottom-0 left-0 right-0 top-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-primary hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>Acting Navy Secretary and former Under Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao attends a press briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on Friday. &#8211; Annabelle Gordon\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In a statement after his appointment as acting secretary, Cao said that he would focus on advancing the Navy\u2019s shipbuilding priorities \u2014 the very issue that contributed to Phelan\u2019s firing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cI remain fully committed to accomplishing the core mission of the Department of the Navy as a premier warfighting organization and providing unwavering support to our warriors downrange,\u201d Cao said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Phelan, a businessman and friend of Trump\u2019s who fundraised for his campaign, was removed as Navy secretary following tensions with Hegseth that had stretched on for months. Hegseth believed Phelan was moving too slowly on implementing shipbuilding reforms and was also irked by Phelan\u2019s direct communication with Trump, which Hegseth viewed as an attempt to bypass him, CNN previously reported.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">It\u2019s unclear whether Cao will be nominated to take over as Navy secretary permanently.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In a statement to CNN, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Cao \u201cbrings battle-tested leadership to the Navy\u2019s highest office\u201d and that he \u201cembodies the relentless grit and America First vision required to maintain America\u2019s maritime superiority.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">After immigrating to the US in 1975, Cao and his family then moved to West Africa, where his father served as a USAID agricultural specialist, according to his Navy biography. Cao returned to Virginia when he was 12.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">He then enlisted in the Navy in 1989 and became an officer after graduating from the US Naval Academy in 1996. 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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Cao and Hegseth knew each other before they both joined the Trump administration, and Cao accompanied Hegseth on a trip to Vietnam in November.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">At a 2024 rally in Virginia just days before the November election, Trump praised the Virginia Senate candidate and called him up to join him on stage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cWe\u2019re pleased to be joined by a wonderful guy, and with this name I really believe he\u2019s gonna win for the senate \u2014 Hung Cao,\u201d Trump said. Trump won the White House but lost Virginia, and Kaine defeated Cao in the Senate race 54% to 45%.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In his Senate race, Cao often criticized the Biden administration\u2019s DEI policies, blaming them for the military\u2019s recruiting issues.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cThis administration has a growing obsession with DEI. It\u2019s no wonder we have a military recruiting problem in our country and that will continue under Harris\/Walz,\u201d Cao wrote on X in September 2024.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks alongside Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Virginia Hung Cao at the Truong Tien Restaurant in the Eden Center on August 26, 2024 in Falls Church, Virginia. - Anna Moneymaker\/Getty Images\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/IIZlUuT_CakqwKyShdQReQ--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/cnn_articles_875\/3c071a992b2ab8731e2d52019f112fff\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-3 right-3 rounded-full bg-primary p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-primary\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><default:svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" class=\"flex-none size-4 -scale-x-100 text-primary lg:size-6 [&amp;_path]:fill-current\"><default:path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M3.1 3.1V11h1.8V6.314l5.392 5.393 1.415-1.414L6.313 4.9H11V3.1zm17.8 17.8V13h-1.8v4.686l-5.393-5.393-1.415 1.414 5.393 5.393H13v1.8z\"\/><\/default:svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed bottom-0 left-0 right-0 top-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-primary hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks alongside Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Virginia Hung Cao at the Truong Tien Restaurant in the Eden Center on August 26, 2024 in Falls Church, Virginia. &#8211; Anna Moneymaker\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Cao was confirmed as Navy undersecretary on October 1. All Democrats voted against Cao nomination and all Republicans supported him, except for Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who voted no.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">That same month, Phelan\u2019s chief of staff was fired by Hegseth, in part over efforts to undermine the Navy undersecretary\u2019s office before Cao arrived on the job, Politico reported last fall.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">As undersecretary, Cao was tapped to be the senior defense official for Guam, where Cao\u2019s family first arrived decades earlier as Vietnamese refugees. He also headed up recruitment and personnel policy for the Navy, including implementing Trump\u2019s executive order to reinstate service members who were discharged from the military over its Covid-19 vaccine mandate in 2021.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In January, Cao wrote a letter apologizing to sailors who were kicked out of the military as a result of the mandate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cTo the sailors and Marines who were wrongfully discharged during Covid, we failed you. We will never allow this to happen again. Not on my watch,\u201d Cao said in a video where he signed the apology letter. \u201cYou are warriors of conscience, and we need people like you back in the force.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The source familiar with the situation said that Cao has told Pentagon officials he won\u2019t try to go around Trump or Hegseth. \u201cHe is going to give his feedback within the building,\u201d the source said, \u201cand he will loyally support whatever decision the president makes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a ><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As undersecretary of the Navy, Hung Cao, a retired Navy captain and former Republican Senate candidate in Virginia, was supposed to have a broad portfolio as the service\u2019s No. 2 civilian, which included personnel issues and safeguarding the Navy\u2019s \u201cwarfighter ethos.\u201d But in reality, Cao was often cut out of decision-making by his boss, Navy [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":84171,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_daextam_enable_autolinks":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/bbbd920984fe9cbfbfd04f5dbc5b391a.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}