'Out of my lane.' Dr. Oz ducks questions during his turn in the White
House briefing room
[June 03, 2026]
By WILL WEISSERT and JOSH BOAK
WASHINGTON (AP) — He spoke fast, hammering through the Trump
administration's efforts to lower prescription drug prices, combat
health care fraud, and curb the spread of Ebola overseas.
But when reporters tried to ask Dr. Mehmet Oz about the most-pressing
issues of the day — the point of the White House briefing where he was
speaking for the administration — the head of the Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services had little to offer, and said so again and again.
Oz’s appearance showcased how the White House can struggle to respond to
major news that breaks on any given day — a telling weakness as public
sentiment has increasingly turned against the president. And it comes as
President Donald Trump himself has spent more time than usual out of
reach of reporters' questions.
Pressed on why Trump tapped Bill Pulte to be the acting director of
national intelligence, despite the head of the Federal Housing Finance
Agency having no clear national security credentials, Oz said he trusted
the president's judgment while also offering, “I think Bill's a great
guy. I know him socially.”
Asked on the same topic again, he said, “Ma'am, you’re asking me a
question that’s out of my lane."
When a reporter said that the White House had given so little
information on Pulte's nomination that there was no choice but to seek
answers from Oz during the briefing — despite it not being his area of
expertise — Oz acknowledged, "I appreciate you want an answer. I’m not
not going to be the one giving it to you.”
Still another attempt finally prompted him to exclaim, “I don’t know
anything more about Bill Pulte than you do. I did not think that the
questions would even come up here. I hadn’t even heard the news when I
walked out.”
The administration has invited some of its most camera-ready voices to
brief reporters while White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is on
maternity leave. It started with Vice President JD Vance and then
featured another possible 2028 White House hopeful, Secretary of State
Marco Rubio. Last week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had his turn.
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Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator Dr. Mehmet
Oz speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at
the White House, Tuesday, June 2, 2026, in Washington. (AP
Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
“I did watch them all, by the way," Oz said, explaining it helped
him prepare for the experience. “I’m a doctor. I try and do my
homework. I prepped for the case.”
Vance, Rubio and Bessent each fielded questions about the war in
Iran and other topics. But Oz, an unsuccessful former Senate
candidate in Pennsylvania and onetime prominent TV physician, stuck
mostly to health care.
The White House said Oz was there to announce that 160 new
medications are being added to the government’s discounted-drug
website TrumpRx, bringing the total number of drugs on the site to
more than 750.
“Dr. Oz authoritatively and articulately discussed the latest
updates on several key Trump administration priorities, from
lowering prescription drug prices to rooting out pervasive fraud in
federal programs,” White House spokesman Kush Desai, said in a
statement that also chided reporters for asking about “topics that
President Trump himself has already weighed in on.”
Oz was also asked several times about Trump having undergone four
publicly disclosed health screenings since returning to the White
House and gave various answers, including, “I think he likes the
results,” while piling on the praise about his boss, who turns 80
this month.
“That amount of energy, and that amount of mental acuity does not
exist in a vacuum," Oz said. “You have to have a vessel to carry
it.”
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