Trump Picks Witch-Obsessed Conspiracy Theorist for Top Navy Job

Elizabeth Frantz / REUTERS President Donald Trump has officially nominated Hung Cao, a retired naval officer who is currently serving as acting secretary of the Navy, to fill the role permanently.

Cao, a failed House candidate and failed Senate candidate, had been serving in the role in an acting capacity since former Navy Secretary John Phelan was fired in April.

Cao is seen as someone who is more in line with the views of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has clashed with military leaders as he has attempted to bring culture wars into the ranks.

But Cao is known for a bit of conspiratorial thinking as well.

In a resurfaced 2023 video, Cao expressed a weird obsession with witchcraft while being interviewed by a right-wing pastor.

As he ranted about a location in Monterey, California, called “Lovers Point,” he proclaimed that it was previously called “Lovers of Christ Point,” but after taking out Jesus’s name, the place just has bad vibes.

“Monterey is a really dark place now.

A lot of witchcraft and the Wiccan community has really taken over there,” he claimed.

“We just need to mobilize Christians across the nation…we can’t let it turn like this,” he explained.

His claims of witchcraft were later debunked .

The area in question is actually a town over in Pacific Grove, not Monterey, and the area was historically known as Lovers of Jesus Point before it was simply shortened to Lovers Point.

Cao was confirmed to his role as undersecretary of the Navy by a 52-48 vote in the Senate last October.

Republican Sen.

Lisa Murkowski voted against confirming him at the time, citing “concerns about his past statements and conduct.” Trump, who endorsed him in his failed 2024 Senate run in Virginia, has hailed Cao as a “true WARRIOR” in his nomination.