Donald Trump taps wellness influencer close to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for
surgeon general
[May 08, 2025]
By SEUNG MIN KIM and MATTHEW PERRONE
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is tapping Dr. Casey Means, a
physician-turned-wellness influencer with close ties to Health and Human
Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as his nominee for surgeon
general after withdrawing his initial pick for the influential health
post.
Trump said in a social media post Wednesday that Means has “impeccable
‘MAHA’ credentials” – referring to the “ Make America Healthy Again ”
slogan – and that she will work to eradicate chronic disease and improve
the health and well-being of Americans.
“Her academic achievements, together with her life’s work, are
absolutely outstanding,” Trump said. “Dr. Casey Means has the potential
to be one of the finest Surgeon Generals in United States History.”
In doing so, Trump withdrew former Fox News medical contributor Janette
Nesheiwat from consideration for the job, marking at least the second
health-related pick from Trump to be pulled from Senate consideration.
Nesheiwat had been scheduled to appear before the Senate Health,
Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Thursday for her confirmation
hearing.
Means and her brother, former lobbyist Calley Means, served as key
advisers to Kennedy’s longshot 2024 presidential bid and helped broker
his endorsement of Trump last summer. The pair made appearances with
some of Trump’s biggest supporters, winning praise from conservative
pundit Tucker Carlson and podcaster Joe Rogan. Calley Means is currently
a White House adviser who appears frequently on television to promote
restrictions on SNAP benefits, removing fluoride from drinking water and
other MAHA agenda items.
Casey Means has no government experience and dropped out of her surgical
residency program, saying she became disillusioned with traditional
medicine. She founded a health tech company, Levels, that helps users
track blood sugar and other metrics. She also makes money from dietary
supplements, creams, teas and other products sponsored on her social
media accounts.
In interviews and articles, Means and her brother describe a dizzying
web of influences to blame for the nation’s health problems, including
corrupt food conglomerates that have hooked Americans on unhealthy
diets, leaving them reliant on daily medications from the pharmaceutical
industry to manage obesity, diabetes and other chronic conditions.
Few health experts would dispute that the American diet — full of
processed foods — is a contributor to obesity and related problems. But
Means goes further, linking changes in diet and lifestyle to a raft of
conditions including infertility, Alzheimer’s, depression and erectile
dysfunction.
“Almost every chronic health symptom that Western medicine addresses is
the result of our cells being beleaguered by how we’ve come to live,”
Means said in a 2024 book co-written with her brother.
Food experts say it’s overly simplistic to declare that all processed
foods are harmful, since the designation covers an estimated 60% of U.S.
foods, including products as diverse as granola, peanut butter and
potato chips.
“They are not all created equal,” said Gabby Headrick, a nutrition
researcher at George Washington University’s school of public health.
“It is much more complicated than just pointing the finger at
ultra-processed foods as the driver of chronic disease in the United
States.”
Means has mostly steered clear of Kennedy’s controversial and debunked
views on vaccines. But on her website, she has called for more
investigation into their safety and recommends making it easier for
patients to sue drugmakers in the event of vaccine injuries. Since the
late 1980s, federal law has shielded those companies from legal
liability to encourage development of vaccines without the threat of
costly personal injury lawsuits.
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Janette Nesheiwat arrives at the Fox Nation's Patriot Awards, Nov.
16, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)
She trained as a surgeon at Stanford University but has built an online
following by criticizing the medical establishment and promoting natural
foods and lifestyle changes to reverse obesity, diabetes and other
chronic diseases.
If confirmed as surgeon general, Means would be tasked with helping
promote Kennedy’s sprawling MAHA agenda, which calls for removing
thousands of additives and chemicals from U.S. foods, rooting out
conflicts of interest at federal agencies and incentivizing healthier
foods in school lunches and other nutrition programs.
Nesheiwat, Trump's first pick, is a medical director for an urgent care
company in New York and has appeared regularly on Fox News to offer
medical expertise and insights. She is a vocal supporter of Trump and
shares photos of them together on social media. Nesheiwat is also the
sister-in-law of former national security adviser Mike Waltz, who has
been nominated to be Trump's ambassador to the United Nations.
But she had recently come under criticism from Laura Loomer, a far-right
ally of Trump who was instrumental in ousting several members of the
president’s National Security Council. Loomer posted on X earlier this
week that “we can’t have a pro-COVID vaccine nepo appointee who is
currently embroiled in a medical malpractice case and who didn’t go to
medical school in the US” as the surgeon general.
Independent freelance journalist Anthony Clark reported last month that
Nesheiwat earned her medical degree from the American University of the
Caribbean School of Medicine in St. Maarten, despite saying that she has
a degree from the University of Arkansas School of Medicine. The White
House pulled Nesheiwat’s nomination because of doubts about her
confirmation prospects, according to a person familiar with the matter
who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the administration's
reasoning.
“I am looking forward to continuing to support President Trump and
working closely with Secretary Kennedy in a senior policy role to Make
America Healthy Again! My focus continues to be on improving the health
and well-being of all Americans, and that mission hasn’t changed,”
Nesheiwat wrote on social media Wednesday.
The surgeon general, considered the nation’s doctor, oversees 6,000 U.S.
Public Health Service Corps members and can issue advisories that warn
of public health threats.
In March, the White House pulled from consideration the nomination of
former Florida GOP Rep. Dave Weldon to lead the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. His skepticism on vaccines had raised concerns
from key Republican senators, and he withdrew after being told by the
White House that he did not have enough support to be confirmed.
The withdrawal was first reported by Bloomberg News.
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