Last year saw retired U.S. Navy Cpt. Hung Cao mount an unsuccessful effort to take Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kane's seat on Capitol Hill.

However, both Cao and Trump scored a win this week when the Senate voted to confirm the former military officer as under secretary of the Navy.  

Lone Republican senator voted against Hung's confirmation

As Breitbart reported, the Senate voted 52 to 45 in favor of Cao's confirmation, with Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski being the only GOP member to oppose him.

“I was not comfortable offering my support based upon my review of his background and his qualifications,” Murkowski told the Washington Examiner.

✅ CONFIRMED: @HungCao_VA as Under Secretary of the Navy pic.twitter.com/blvjr7XyVe

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) October 1, 2025

Trump touted Cao this past February in a Truth Social post, describing his nominee as "the embodiment of the American dream."

Trump: Cao "will get the job done"

"As a refugee to our Great Nation, Hung worked tirelessly to make proud the Country that gave his family a home. He went to our amazing United States Naval Academy and later earned his Master's degree in Physics," Trump continued.

The president went on to recall how "Hung served in combat as a Special Operations Officer for twenty five years" before adding, "With Hung's experience both in combat, and in the Pentagon, he will get the job done."

In addition to his 2024 Senate run, Cao also campaigned two years earlier against Democratic Rep. Jennifer Wexton in Virginia's 10th Congressional District.

During his race with Kaine, Cao took issue with the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts which the Biden administration had applied to military recruiting.

Cao slammed use of drag queens for recruiting

"When you’re using a drag queen to recruit for the Navy, that’s not the people we want," the New York Post quoted him as saying in a televised debate.

"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," the former Naval officer insisted.

The Post noted how Cao expressed a similar message when it interviewed him earlier in the year, saying that the military should "not [be] concentrating on things like pronouns."

He declared that more focus should be placed on meeting the needs of service personnel as "one-third of our enlisted ranks are either on WIC [Women, Infants and Children supplemental nutrition program] or food stamps."