Saphier is Trump’s third nominee after his first two — Janette Nesheiwat and Casey Means — failed to be confirmed.
President Trump is hoping the third time is the charm with his new nominee for surgeon general, Dr. Nicole Saphier.
After his first two nominees — Fox News medical contributor Janette Nesheiwat and wellness influencer Casey Means — failed to garner enough support in the Senate, Trump announced this week that he would instead nominate the 44-year-old radiologist and director of breast imaging at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center–Monmouth to the role.
The president called Saphier a “STAR physician” in a post on Truth Social.
“She is also an INCREDIBLE COMMUNICATOR, who makes complicated health issues more easily understood by all Americans,” Trump wrote in the post.
“Dr. Nicole Saphier will do great things for our Country, and help, ‘MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN,’” he continued. “Congratulations Nicole, our Country has long been waiting for you!”
In fact, the title of Saphier’s 2020 book, Make America Healthy Again: How Bad Behavior and Big Government Caused a Trillion-Dollar Crisis, would go on to become the slogan for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s health agenda.
“We don’t need socialized medicine — we need to take better care of ourselves,” Saphier wrote in the book, which covers topics including cancer, the opioid crisis, health-care costs, and personal responsibility.
“Policies such as the Affordable Care Act and single-payer plans ignore something crucial to lowering the overall financial burden: personal responsibility,” the book’s description reads. “We can no longer expect doctors and the government to fix illnesses we have the power to prevent. Regardless of which health policy is adopted, our nation will flounder unless we take action. It is up to the American people to make America healthy again.”
Saphier has been a major proponent of Kennedy’s MAHA movement and has spoken favorably of the new dietary guidelines established by Kennedy earlier this year.
Still, in an interview with Rolling Stone last year, Saphier said of the MAHA movement: “Do I think it is the end-all be-all and going to save the health care system? No, I don’t.”
She told the magazine it is easy for MAHA advocates to criticize the health-care system “when they’re not [working inside] it, day after day” as she has. “I would not want to be in any other health care system,” she said. “You can be a supporter of the MAHA movement but not agree with every facet of it.”
A graduate of the Ross University School of Medicine in Barbados, Saphier also serves as an associate professor at Weill Cornell Medical College, specializing in breast and oncologic imaging.
“Breast cancer screening, diagnosis, and intervention are my clinical and research cornerstones,” Saphier writes in her biography. “In addition to my clinical and research responsibilities at MSK, I am active in healthcare leadership, policy, and advocacy at local and national levels. Although I see many patients every year, being involved in advocacy allows me to reach and serve many more in a wider community.”
She has appeared on Fox News as a contributor since 2018 and also hosts an iHeartRadio podcast called Wellness Unmasked where she holds “unfiltered conversations” about wellness and offers “evidence-based insight” about healthy living practices, according to the show’s description.
On a recent episode, Saphier said she was unsure how to feel about the Pentagon’s decision to end mandatory flu vaccinations for service members.
“I don’t know if I’m for or against this move,” she said. “I approach it with caution, and I really hope that they’ll put together some data so we can evaluate next year to see what sort of outcome this has.”
She said the Trump administration should monitor changes in the rates of influenza contraction and hospitalization, and whether military readiness is affected by the new policy over the next year.
“That’s what we should be watching because good health policy shouldn’t be driven by ideology or people trying to get political talking points,” she said. “It should be driven by evidence.”
“Some will call it a win for medical autonomy, others will say it puts readiness at risk — and as usual, the truth, it’s definitely somewhere in between and definitely more nuanced than that,” she said.
Saphier said she advocates for “risk-based [vaccine] recommendations versus one-size-fits all.”
However, Saphier has made clear that evidence linking vaccines to autism or cancer is limited and inconclusive, and has emphasized the importance of measles and polio shots. She has, however, questioned mandates for hepatitis B and certain boosters.
Trump’s previous nominee, Casey Means, failed to garner support from several members of the Senate Health Committee, including Democrats and Republican Senators Bill Cassidy (La.) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), because of her stance on vaccinations. During a confirmation hearing in February, Means would not say whether she would encourage Americans to get children vaccinated for measles, the flu, or whooping cough.
Saphier’s nomination will now head to the Senate committee for consideration. If she is approved by the committee, her nomination will move to the Senate floor for a full confirmation vote.