Washington DC - President Donald Trump finally confirmed that he is nominating Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao to serve in the role on a permanent basis amid ongoing leadership challenges at the Pentagon.

"I am pleased to nominate a true WARRIOR, Hung Cao, to become the next Secretary of the Navy," Trump announced in a Truth Social post on Tuesday.

"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," he continued.

"The Senate needs to confirm this Warfighter, ASAP, so he can continue the fantastic work he has been doing over the past 4 months."

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Cao has served as the acting Navy secretary since John Phelan was fired by Trump in April following months of infighting and disagreements over the administration's military strategy.

Prior to his failed bids for the US House of Representatives in 2022 and the Senate in 2024 (which were both backed by Trump), Cao had a long and storied career with the Navy, only retiring in 2021.

For more than three decades, he served as a Navy diver and bomb disposal officer, and even as the commander of the Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center in Panama.

His time as acting secretary has been plagued with scandal, as reports emerged of shocking conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln and the administration faced repeated failures in the Middle East.

Cao's ascension to the top job also comes amid purging of the military's top brass, only a day after Army Secretary Dan Driscoll submitted his resignation amid reports of tensions with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.