Donald Trump taps wellness influencer close to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for surgeon general

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.

She received her medical training 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.

__

This story was first published May 7, 2025. It was published again May 9, 2025, to correct that Means did her medical training at Stanford University, but not her surgical training. She was a surgical resident at Oregon Health and Science University but did not complete the program.

CORRECTS NAME TO MEGYN INSTEAD OF MEGAN - FILE - Dr. Casey Means, a wellness influencer, left, and journalist Megyn Kelly, attend a confirmation hearing for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the Secretary of Health and Human Services post, at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)

FILE - Dr. Casey Means, a wellness influencer, left, and journalist Megan Kelly, attend a confirmation hearing for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the Secretary of Health and Human Services post, at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)

President Donald Trump speaks after David Perdue was sworn in as U.S. Ambassador to China during a ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, May 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

FILE - Janette Nesheiwat arrives at the Fox Nation's Patriot Awards, Nov. 16, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)