Hung Cao is stepping in as the interim Navy Secretary after the Pentagon announced the departure of John Phelan, who had the role up until this point. While an official cause of Phelan’s departure was not given, Reuters reported citing a source that he had been fired.
Phelan’s reported firing comes weeks after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired the Army’s top uniformed officer, Gen. Randy George. However, Cao will now be taking on the responsibilities. He is a 25-year Navy veteran who served in combat zones. Cao had run a failed US Senate bid against Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine in 2024. President Donald Trump had endorsed him in the Republican primaries.
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Cao is known to take a tough stance against Communist ideology. He had compared Vietnam’s communist regime during the Cold War to the Joe Biden administration. He had also said during his campaign “We are losing our country.” Cao had then added “You know it. But you also know that you can’t say it. We’re forced to say that wrong is right. We’re forced to lie.”
While he will be stepping into a new role at the Navy, here is all on Hung Cao’s wife, children, and family.
Hung Cao: Wife, kids and family; all you need to know
Hung Cao is married to wife, April Lakata. Here’s all you need to know about her.
- She was born and raised in Northern Virginia.
- April Lakata is a writer and has reportedly ‘devoted herself to encouraging families in faith as they strive daily to strengthen their relationships in parenthood and marriage,’ her author bio reads.
- Lakata was a contributing author to the award-winning book, Faith Deployed…Again.
- April Lakata has also been published in the Focus on the Family’s Thriving Family Magazine.
- She has also been a ghost writer for several Op-Eds published in the Washington Post and Washington Times.
Cao and April have five children, among whom one is Grace. Cao had put up a post at the time of her marriage last year. “When your little girl is not a little girl anymore. Congratulations to my Daughter Grace and my new son-in-law Connor,” he had commented.
Cao’s son Gabriel also joined the Navy, following his father’s footsteps. Cao wrote on LinkedIn “To my beloved son in whom I am well pleased and his 1199 classmates: ‘On the strength of one link in the cable, dependeth the might of the chain. Who knows when thou mayest be tested? So live that thou bearest the strain!’ Go Navy!!! 1996 + 30.”
Cao and April’s other kids are Claire, Evelyn, and Liam. As for his family, Cao’s parents are Quan Cao and Ngoc-Tram Nguyen. The former was Assistant to the Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Economic Development in Vietnam, before their family moved to the US after the war. Cao’s father passed away in 2022, and an obituary was put up for him.
Cao has siblings who are married as well. They include Thuy and Michael Lynch, Van and Thuan Tran, Diep and Ngan Duong, and Hai and Michael Eastman.
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