Trump Nominates Dr. Nicole Saphier for Surgeon General After Previous Nominee Withdraws

President Donald Trump nominated Dr. Nicole Saphier for surgeon general on May 1, 2026, according to a White House announcement. Saphier is the director of breast imaging at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center's facility in Monmouth, New Jersey, and a Fox News medical contributor.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stated in the announcement: "Dr. " Kennedy further said: "Her experience and expertise will be essential as we work to address the chronic disease epidemic and prioritize prevention in our health system.

Saphier's nomination follows the withdrawal of Dr. Casey Means, announced on May 1, 2026. Means, 38, is a Stanford-educated ear, nose, and throat surgeon who became an author and entrepreneur. According to her LinkedIn profile cited in source [2], Means did not complete a surgical residency and does not hold an active medical license.

Her confirmation hearing took place in February 2026, but she did not receive sufficient support in the Senate. Activists aligned with the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement organized phone campaigns targeting Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, as reported in source [3].

At a House appropriations committee hearing in April 2026, Kennedy described Means as "the most articulate, eloquent and erudite evangelist of the MAHA movement," according to a transcript referenced in source [4]. " This is the second surgeon general nominee to withdraw during Trump's second term, which began in January 2025.

The first nominee, Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, a former Fox News medical contributor, withdrew in 2025; source [1] notes that her withdrawal followed Senate scrutiny of her academic credentials, though no specific details from official statements are provided in the bundle.

Saphier authored a book titled Make America Healthy Again in 2020, prior to Kennedy's use of the phrase in his 2024 presidential campaign. " Born in Arizona, Saphier became pregnant at age 17 and, with her mother's support, completed her medical training at Ross University School of Medicine in Barbados, as detailed in her memoir referenced in source [1].

She incorporates Western medicine with Eastern techniques and natural remedies in her personal health practices.

On her Instagram profile, examined in source [5], Saphier describes herself as a full-time wife, mom, and doctor, and a part-time farmer, sharing photos of family holidays in Spain and snow activities with her husband and four sons. In a 2021 Fox News segment, Saphier interviewed Trump on coronavirus origins, following her book that year which argued anti-Trump sentiment undermined the Covid-19 response, per source [2].

She has stated that Covid-19 vaccination should be a personal choice.

" Regarding vaccines, Saphier wrote in a 2019 book excerpt quoted in source [2]: "The overwhelming majority of good research disputes links between vaccines and autism," but she expressed openness to alternative childhood vaccine schedules.

On her Wellness Unmasked podcast in 2023, Saphier said: "Bottom line is this: vaccine is one of the most effective tools we have to prevent serious illness," according to a transcript in source [4]. " The Senate has not yet scheduled a confirmation hearing for Saphier, and no public statements from Senators Murkowski or Collins on her nomination appear in the source bundle as of May 2, 2026.