Hung Cao, a 2026 Wash100 Award winner, identified his immediate priorities as the new acting secretary of the Navy in a video address to the force posted on the social media site X on Friday.
Navy leaders will discuss shipbuilding, sailor readiness and other priorities at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2026 Navy Summit on Aug. 27. The event will have keynote speeches from top decision-makers at the Navy, panel discussions featuring defense officials and industry executives, and networking opportunities. Tickets are available here.
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What Are Hung Cao’s Three Priorities for the Navy?
Cao, a retired U.S. Navy captain, said his first priority as the Department of the Navy’s top civilian leader is ensuring that sailors and Marines have access to what they need to execute their mission. His second priority is shipbuilding, so that the military service has the necessary platforms to fight adversaries. His third priority is the defense of the homeland.
“I 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,” he added in a succeeding post on X.
What Is the Golden Fleet?
Cao’s prioritization of shipbuilding aligns with the Trump administration’s Golden Fleet initiative, which aims to revitalize the U.S. maritime industrial base and expand fleet capabilities.
Central to the Golden Fleet is the development of the Trump-class battleship, a next-generation surface combatant designed to deliver enhanced firepower and operate alongside carrier strike groups or lead surface action groups. The ships are expected to be significantly larger than existing destroyers and support air and missile defense, anti-submarine warfare and strike missions.
USNI News reported that the service plans to procure the first Trump-class ship in fiscal year 2028.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Rear Adm. Ben Reynolds, deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for budget, explained that the battleship fills a gap in the service’s fleet.
“We’ve been pursuing a larger surface combatant for many years. I think we’ve invested over five years in DDG(X) large surface combatant,” he stated.
“This will be able to do many, many things that our DDGs cannot, just like the frigate fills a hole that our DDG doesn’t,” Reynolds added.
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