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Donald Trump
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Trump taps ex-Hong Kong private equity manager Philip Bilden for US Navy secretary

Philip Bilden recently retired as a co-founding member of HarbourVest, a global private-equity firm and established its Asian presence in Hong Kong

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Donald Trump on the battleship USS Iowa during a campaign stop in September. Trump wants to expand the US Navy from its current size of roughly 270 ships to 350. Photo: AP
The Washington Post

US President Donald Trump has selected long-time private equity fund manager Philip Bilden to be the next secretary of the Navy, the White House announced Wednesday.

Bilden, who ran the Hong Kong branch of the private equity firm Harbourvest Partners since 1996 before recently stepping down, was floated by the Trump transition team as a candidate for the job earlier this month, according to a report from the US Naval Institute.

“As Secretary of the Navy, Philip Bilden will apply his terrific judgement and top-notch management skills to the task of rebuilding our unparalleled Navy,” Trump said in a statement.

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Prior to Bilden, Republican politician Randy Forbes was a front-runner for the position. Forbes, a former chairman of the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee, had long aligned with Trump’s vision of expanding the US Navy from its current size of roughly 270 ships to 350.
The Trump administration on Monday raised the prospect of worsening tensions with China when it vowed to prevent Beijing from taking over territory in international waters in the South China Sea, something Chinese state media has warned would require Washington to “wage war”.
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Philip Bilden. Photo: USNI
Philip Bilden. Photo: USNI
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