Trump names doctor-turned-wellness influencer Casey Means as new surgeon general pick

The Associated Press

· Posted: May 07, 2025 9:25 PM EDT | Last Updated: 25 minutes ago

U.S. President Donald Trump is tapping Dr. Casey Means, a physician-turned-wellness influencer with adjacent ties to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., arsenic his nominee for surgeon wide aft withdrawing his archetypal prime for the influential wellness post.

Trump said successful a societal media station Wednesday that Means has "impeccable 'MAHA' credentials" — referring to the "Make America Healthy Again" slogan — and that she volition enactment to eradicate chronic illness and amended the wellness and well-being of Americans.

"Her world achievements, unneurotic with her life's work, are perfectly outstanding," Trump said. "Dr. Casey Means has the imaginable to beryllium 1 of the finest Surgeon Generals successful United States History."

In doing so, Trump withdrew erstwhile Fox News aesculapian contributor Janette Nesheiwat from information for the job, marking astatine slightest the 2nd health-related prime from Trump to beryllium pulled from Senate consideration. Nesheiwat had been scheduled to look earlier the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labour and Pensions Committee Thursday for her confirmation hearing.

Means and her brother, erstwhile lobbyist Calley Means, served arsenic cardinal advisers to Kennedy's longshot 2024 statesmanlike bid and helped broker his endorsement of Trump past summer. The brace made appearances with immoderate of Trump's biggest supporters, winning praise from blimpish pundit Tucker Carlson and podcaster Joe Rogan.

Calley Means is presently a White House advisor who appears often connected tv to beforehand restrictions connected nutrient benefits for low-income families, removing fluoride from drinking h2o and different MAHA docket items.

No authorities experience

Casey Means has nary authorities acquisition and dropped retired of her surgical residency program, saying she became disillusioned with accepted medicine. She founded a wellness tech company, Levels, that helps users way humor sweetener and different metrics. She besides makes wealth from dietary supplements, creams, teas and different products sponsored connected her societal media accounts.

In interviews and articles, Means and her member picture a dizzying web of influences to blasted for the nation's wellness problems, including corrupt nutrient conglomerates that person hooked Americans connected unhealthy diets, leaving them reliant connected regular medications from the pharmaceutical manufacture to negociate obesity, diabetes and different chronic conditions.

Few wellness experts would quality that the American fare — afloat of processed foods — is simply a contributor to obesity and related problems. But Means goes further, linking changes successful fare and manner to a raft of conditions including infertility, Alzheimer's, slump and erectile dysfunction.

"Almost each chronic wellness grounds that Western medicine addresses is the effect of our cells being beleaguered by however we've travel to live," Means said successful a 2024 publication co-written with her brother.

Food experts accidental it's overly simplistic to state that each processed foods are harmful, since the designation covers an estimated 60 per cent of U.S. foods, including products arsenic divers arsenic granola, peanut food and murphy chips.

"They are not each created equal," said Gabby Headrick, a nutrition researcher astatine George Washington University's schoolhouse of nationalist health. "It is overmuch much analyzable than conscionable pointing the digit astatine ultra-processed foods arsenic the operator of chronic illness successful the United States."

Means has mostly steered wide of Kennedy's arguable and debunked views connected vaccines. But connected her website, she has called for much probe into their information and recommends making it easier for patients to writer drugmakers successful the lawsuit of vaccine injuries. Since the precocious 1980s, national instrumentality has shielded those companies from ineligible liability to promote improvement of vaccines without the menace of costly idiosyncratic wounded lawsuits.

She trained arsenic a surgeon astatine Stanford University but has built an online pursuing by criticizing the aesculapian constitution and promoting earthy foods and manner changes to reverse obesity, diabetes and different chronic diseases.

If confirmed arsenic surgeon general, Means would beryllium tasked with helping beforehand Kennedy's sprawling MAHA agenda, which calls for removing thousands of additives and chemicals from U.S. foods, rooting retired conflicts of involvement astatine national agencies and incentivizing healthier foods successful schoolhouse lunches and different nutrition programs.

Laura Loomer criticized anterior nominee

Nesheiwat, Trump's archetypal pick, is simply a aesculapian manager for an urgent attraction institution successful New York and has appeared regularly connected Fox News to connection aesculapian expertise and insights. She is simply a vocal protagonist of Trump and shares photos of them unneurotic connected societal media. Nesheiwat is besides the sister-in-law of erstwhile nationalist information advisor Mike Waltz, who has been nominated to beryllium Trump's ambassador to the United Nations.

But she had precocious travel nether disapproval from Laura Loomer, a far-right state of Trump who was instrumental successful ousting respective members of the president's National Security Council. Loomer posted connected X earlier this week that "we can't person a pro-COVID vaccine nepo appointee… who didn't spell to aesculapian schoolhouse successful the US" arsenic the surgeon general.

Independent freelance writer Anthony Clark reported past period that Nesheiwat earned her aesculapian grade from the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine successful St. Maarten, contempt saying that she has a grade from the University of Arkansas School of Medicine.

The White House pulled Nesheiwat's information due to the fact that of doubts astir her confirmation prospects, according to a idiosyncratic acquainted with the substance who spoke connected information of anonymity to sermon the administration's reasoning.

"I americium looking guardant to continuing to enactment President Trump and moving intimately with Secretary Kennedy successful a elder argumentation relation to Make America Healthy Again! My absorption continues to beryllium connected improving the wellness and well-being of each Americans, and that ngo hasn't changed," Nesheiwat wrote connected societal media Wednesday.

The surgeon general, considered the nation's doctor, oversees 6,000 U.S. Public Health Service Corps members and tin contented advisories that pass of nationalist wellness threats.

In March, the White House pulled from information the information of erstwhile Florida Republican Rep. Dave Weldon to pb the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. His skepticism connected vaccines had raised concerns from cardinal Republican senators, and helium withdrew aft being told by the White House that helium did not person capable enactment to beryllium confirmed.

The withdrawal was archetypal reported by Bloomberg News.