Trump pulls Casey Means’ surgeon general bid, names Nicole Saphier as replacement
President Trump withdraws Casey Means’ surgeon general nomination and announces Dr. Nicole B. Saphier as the replacement.
President Trump said on Thursday that he is pulling back his nomination of Dr. Casey Means for U.S. surgeon general and replacing it with Dr. Nicole B. Saphier.
The president announced the change in two posts on Truth Social. In the first, he blamed Sen. Bill Cassidy for what he described as the nomination stalling, arguing that Cassidy has stood in the way of his pick after Means’ confirmation hearing in February.
Trump wrote that he nominated Casey. describing her as a “MAHA Warrior” and saying the nomination was made at the recommendation of Secretary Kennedy.. He also said that. despite Cassidy’s “intransigence and political games. ” Means would continue to “fight for MAHA” on health issues.. Shortly afterward, Trump said he is nominating Saphier to be the next surgeon general.
Trump said Saphier is a radiologist and the director of breast imaging at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Monmouth.. He also said she previously served as a medical contributor for Fox News Channel until her nomination.. Before that. Trump noted. Saphier wrote a 2020 book titled “Make America Healthy Again: How Bad Behavior and Big Government Caused a Trillion-Dollar Crisis. ” and hosts a health and wellness podcast called “Wellness Unmasked.”
In his post introducing Saphier. Trump described her as a physician who has spent her career guiding women facing breast cancer through diagnosis and treatment. while advocating for increased early cancer detection and prevention.. He also said she works with men and women on other cancer diagnoses and treatments. and praised her as a communicator who. in his view. makes complex health issues easier for Americans to understand.
Means’ confirmation hearing took place on Feb. 25, but her nomination did not move forward in the months afterward. The stalled process, according to the account provided, was tied to difficulties in securing sufficient support in the Senate.
During Means’ appearance before the Senate Health Committee. she did not directly say whether she would encourage mothers to vaccinate their children. despite emphasis from Cassidy and others on the value of vaccines in saving lives.. When asked about vaccines and any potential link to autism, Means told the committee that “the science is never settled.”
The record also notes that Means publicly acknowledged experimenting with psychedelic drugs in her 30s.. In addition, she does not have a currently active medical license, a point that was raised during her confirmation hearing.. Trump nominated Means in May 2025, but the hearing was delayed after she gave birth to her first child.