Trump picks another TV star for major health position

Hailing him as an “eminent physician” who can “Make America Healthy Again,” President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he will nominate television doctor Dr. Mehmet Oz to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as its administrator.

Trump, who endorsed Oz in his failed race for Pennsylvania Senate two years ago, said the cardiothoracic surgeon will work closely with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who the incoming president tapped last week to serve as his next administration’s Health and Human Services secretary. Both Kennedy and Oz would require Senate confirmation to make it into their new roles.

“I am very pleased to nominate Dr. Mehmet Oz to serve as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator,” Trump said in a statement just after he named Wall Street financier Howard Lutnick to head the Commerce Department. “America is facing a Healthcare Crisis, and there may be no Physician more qualified and capable than Dr. Oz to Make America Healthy Again. He is an eminent Physician, Heart Surgeon, Inventor, and World-Class Communicator, who has been at the forefront of healthy living for decades. Dr. Oz will work closely with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to take on the illness industrial complex, and all the horrible chronic diseases left in its wake.”

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“Our broken Healthcare System harms everyday Americans, and crushes our Country’s budget," Trump continued. "Dr. Oz will be a leader in incentivizing Disease Prevention, so we get the best results in the World for every dollar we spend on Healthcare in our Great Country. He will also cut waste and fraud within our Country’s most expensive Government Agency, which is a third of our Nation’s Healthcare spend, and a quarter of our entire National Budget.”

Oz, who rose to fame as a regular guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show where he dispensed health advice to her audience, graduated from Harvard College, and earned a joint MD and MBA degree at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Wharton Business School. Trump touted that Oz attended his “powerful alma mater" in his announcement.

Oz's nomination follows other TV personalities nominated by Trump, including Pete Hegseth — a co-host on Fox News — for secretary of defense and Thomas Homan as his new "border czar." Additionally, former Wisconsin Rep. and reality TV star Sean Duffy was nominated to serve as secretary of transportation.