Washington — President Trump on Thursday said he is nominating Dr. Nicole B. Saphier to be the next U.S. surgeon general, replacing his nomination of Casey Means, whose bid has stalled in the Senate for months.
The president announced the shuffle in a pair of posts on Truth Social. In the first, he blamed Sen. Bill Cassidy for Means’ nomination stalling in the wake of her confirmation hearing in February, saying the Louisiana Republican “has stood in the way” of his pick.
“I nominated Casey, a strong MAHA Warrior, at the recommendation of Secretary Kennedy, who understands the MAHA Movement better than anyone, with perhaps the possible exception of ME!” he wrote. “Nevertheless, despite Senator Cassidy’s intransigence and political games, Casey will continue to fight for MAHA on the many important Health issues facing our Country.”
Minutes later, Mr. Trump said he’s nominating Saphier, a radiologist and director of breast imaging at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Monmouth. She was a Fox News medical contributor until her nomination.
In 2020, she wrote the book, “Make America Healthy Again: How Bad Behavior and Big Government Caused a Trillion-Dollar Crisis.” She hosts a health and wellness podcast called “Wellness Unmasked.”
“Nicole is a STAR physician who has spent her career guiding women facing breast cancer through their diagnosis and treatment while tirelessly advocating to increase early cancer detection and prevention, while at the same time working with men and women on all other forms of cancer diagnoses and treatments,” the president wrote. “She is also an INCREDIBLE COMMUNICATOR, who makes complicated health issues more easily understood by all Americans.”
Saphier criticized COVID response, built supplement business
Saphier is known for her criticism of how public health authorities handled the COVID-19 pandemic, the subject of a book she wrote in 2021.
She stirred controversy the following year when she tweeted that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was preparing to mandate coronavirus vaccines for schoolchildren, a claim that was debunked by The Washington Post. (Saphier limits the visibility of her posts on what is now X).
Saphier has also emerged as an entrepreneur, launching a company called DropRx that sells natural products to aid concentration and reduce stress. Such supplements aren’t reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration for effectiveness, as a disclaimer on the website notes.
The company, which applied for a trademark in 2023, advertises multiple botanical products described as “physician formulated” supplements that sell for about $30 a bottle. One product, called Focus, is billed as helping “improve brain function, increase focus, sharpen memory and support cognition.” Another, called Calm, is designed to “promote relaxation, ease everyday tension, and support a calm state of mind.”
On Amazon, the bottles feature a label noting that they were designed “by Dr. Nicole Saphier,” and are advertised as “backed by science.”
Saphier holds active medical licenses in New York, New Jersey and Arizona, according to a database maintained by the Federation of State Medical Boards.
Means’ nomination stalled in Senate
Means’ confirmation hearing was Feb. 25, but since then, the process stalled as she struggled to receive sufficient support in the Senate.
Among a handful of notable moments during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Health Committee, Means in her testimony wouldn’t directly say if she would encourage mothers to vaccinate their children. Cassidy, who is a doctor, and others on the committee have stressed the value of many vaccines in saving lives. When asked about vaccines and any potential link to autism, Means told the committee the “science is never settled.”
Means also publicly acknowledged experimenting with psychedelic drugs in her 30s.
Means, who graduated from Stanford medical school, does not have a currently active medical license, something that was pointed out in her confirmation hearing. The president nominated Means in May 2025, but her confirmation hearing was delayed after she gave birth to her first child in October.