Acting U.S. Navy Secretary Hung Cao Lists Shipbuilding as a Top Priority

Acting U.S. Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao vowed to boost shipbuilding efforts in a video statement addressing U.S. sailors and Marines on April 25.

“I want to take this time to address you and tell you that my priorities,” Cao said in a 40-second recorded statement about 60 hours after being named to fill the role of Navy secretary.

Cao said his first and foremost priority is to care for the sailors and Marines of the force.

“We will take care of your needs and make sure you can do the mission,” said Cao, who previously served as an explosive ordnance disposal officer in the U.S. Navy and participated in special operations assignments in combat zones.

Cao listed his second priority as shipbuilding.

“We need the platforms we need in order to defend this country,” he said.

President Donald Trump said the previous Navy secretary, John Phelan, was “an excellent guy” but that he had conflicted with other members of the Trump administration on shipbuilding efforts.

Phelan brought his background in business to the Navy secretary role but had no prior military experience. He stepped down from the role on April 22.

The U.S. Navy has faced challenges with its shipbuilding efforts in recent years.

In the past two decades, the sea service has truncated its Zumwalt-class destroyer and its littoral combat ship programs. Phelan also announced a decision to cancel the Navy’s Constellation-class frigate program in November 2025.

While the U.S. battle force fleet has hovered at between 270 and 300 ships over the past two weeks, communist China—which U.S. military planners consistently describe as the pacing threat—has steadily grown its naval forces. A 2025 Congressional report projected that China would have about 395 warships by the end of 2025.

Phelan joined Trump in Palm Beach, Florida, in December 2025 for the announcement of the president’s “Golden Fleet” shipbuilding initiative.

This month, the Trump administration put forward its Fiscal Year 2027 budget request, with $1.5 trillion in military spending.

The U.S. Navy announced this week that its section of the budget request includes $65.8 billion for shipbuilding, funding 18 battle force ships and 16 auxiliary ships, and incremental funding for the ongoing construction of the Navy’s third and fourth Ford-class aircraft carriers.

On April 25, Cao attended a commission ceremony in Connecticut for the Navy’s latest Virginia-class nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine, USS Idaho.

“Our mission has not changed, and we’re going to keep driving on with the mission. I’m never above you. I’m never below you. I’m always beside you. Semper Fi and Hooyah,” Cao concluded his video message.