WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he is nominating acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao for the permanent job, giving the Navy combat veteran the nod as concerns have emerged that some sailors have been stretched to the limit during the Iran war.
Cao has been serving as acting Navy secretary since John Phelan departed the job unexpectedly and without explanation in late April. Unlike Phelan, who had not served in the military or had a civilian leadership role in the service, Cao spent 25 years in the Navy as a special operations officer and went on to serve with SEAL teams and special forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"I am pleased to nominate a true WARRIOR," Trump wrote on social media, prodding the Senate "to confirm this Warfighter, ASAP."
Cao on social media called it the "honor of a lifetime to lead the great warriors of the Navy and Marine Corps team."
Cao's nomination comes as some, including Democrats in Congress, believe Trump has been overtaxing the Navy. The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier's nine-month deployment to support the Iran war has included a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea.

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PHOENIX (AP) — A polygamous sect leader already serving a 50-year federal sentence for orchestrating ***** involving children was given another 24 years in prison Tuesday on separate state convictions for child abuse for hauling girls in an unventilated trailer in Arizona.
Samuel Bateman, 50, was convicted of three child abuse counts stemming from an August 2022 traffic stop in Flagstaff that led to the discovery of three girls, ages 11 to 14, in the trailer. It had a makeshift toilet, sofa and camping chairs and lacked air conditioning and seat belts. Someone tipped off authorities about the trailer after seeing small fingers reaching through gaps in the doors.
Bateman's small group was an offshoot of the polygamous sect once led by Warren Jeffs. Bateman is currently serving 50 years in federal prison for coercing girls as young as 9 to submit to ***** acts with him and other adults and for scheming to kidnap girls from protective custody — the story of which is the focus of the Netflix series, "Trust Me: The False Prophet."
Citing an "insane danger" to the girls in the trailer, among other factors, Judge Joshua Steinlage ordered Bateman to serve the state sentence after completing the 50-year federal sentence.
"I love these dear people with all my heart, and I had no intention in the entire world to harm them," said Bateman, who represented himself in the case and didn't make a plea for leniency during his sentencing hearing.

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Courts have blocked President Donald Trump's earlier attempts to use existing laws for his trade war, but Congress is advancing a new law that would provide broad discretion to impose steep tariffs.
In an 86-to-11 vote, the Senate passed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act of 2026 on Friday, with the House expected to approve the bill with similar bipartisan support next month.
It sanctions Russian President Vladimir Putin and senior Kremlin officials while also targeting the country's energy sector to cripple the economy amid its war on Ukraine.
The bill would let Trump impose fresh tariffs as high as 100% on the top five importers of Russian oil and gas. While that could include U.S. allies like the European Union, South Korea, ******* an as well as top trading partners like China and India, the president also has the ability to issue waivers if he deems it "in the national interest of the United States."
Despite the overwhelming support, Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., tried to remove the bill's tariff authority, but failed.

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