Who Is Nicole Saphier, Trump’s New Nominee For Us Surgeon General?

The caller nominee for US surgeon wide is an “effective communicator” who appears to beryllium “mainstream enough” to walk confirmation earlier nan US Senate, experts say.

But she has questioned regular puerility vaccines and different nationalist wellness measures, and she is simply a progenitor of nan “Make America patient again” movement.

Nicole Saphier, a radiologist and Fox News aesculapian contributor, is Donald Trump’s 3rd prime for US surgeon general, pursuing withdrawn nominations for Janette Nesheiwat and Casey Means.

The surgeon wide can’t make caller laws aliases regulations, can’t enforce argumentation and has nary budget. Still, it’s 1 of nan astir influential wellness positions successful nan nation.

Means, who is not an actively licensed physician, faced guidance because of her important conflicts of liking successful nan wellness manufacture and a lack of support for vaccines.

Saphier has besides cast doubt connected nan puerility vaccine schedule, nationalist wellness interventions for Covid, and healthcare for transgender children. She owns her ain supplement institution arsenic well.

Saphier is “almost a lock” to walk her confirmation hearing, said Art Caplan, a professor of aesculapian morals astatine NYU’s Grossman School of Medicine and a polio survivor who has spoken pinch Saphier successful nan past and is acquainted pinch her work. Saphier is “a very effective communicator” who appears “mainstream enough” to unafraid nan position, Caplan said. “I don’t work together pinch her astatine all,” he said, but her positions connected vaccines, for instance, apt “won’t beryllium to beryllium fatal” to her nomination, he said.

Saphier is “overall a coagulated pick”, Jerome Adams, nan surgeon wide nether nan first Trump administration, said successful a statement. “She is an exceptionally clear communicator – particularly effective astatine reaching blimpish audiences who often tune retired accepted nationalist wellness messaging.”

Unlike Means, Saphier has an progressive aesculapian licence and presently practices medicine, which “we really shouldn’t person to highlight,” Adams said, “but present we are”. Adams said he has worked pinch Saphier earlier and “she’s nary sycophant”, adding: “Hopefully she’ll beryllium allowed to travel nan subject wherever it leads.”

Saphier is simply a licensed expert specializing successful bosom imaging astatine Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s Monmouth location. She has a beardown attraction connected prevention, particularly of bosom crab – which she has attributed successful portion to little commencement rates, gestation astatine older ages, and little breastfeeding, and she based on that crab prevention should impact support for younger parents and for breastfeeding.

Donald Trump holds up an executive bid nominating Nicole Saphier arsenic nan caller surgeon wide during an arena successful nan Oval Office of nan White House connected 30 April successful Washington DC. Photograph: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

She would beryllium nan 25th apical charismatic successful nan 2nd Trump administration to presently aliases antecedently activity for Fox, having appeared connected nan web much than 640 times. Neishewat, Trump’s first surgeon wide pick, was besides a Fox contributor.

Saphier wrote a book successful 2020 called Make America Healthy Again, 4 years earlier Robert F Kennedy Jr, now nan caput of nan US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), utilized nan motto himself astatine a governmental rally. The Maha activity would bring together Kennedy’s sometimes unruly conjugation of supporters, including anti-vaccine activists, nutrition advocates, environmentalists and supplement sellers. On her podcast, Saphier talks astir a scope of topics, including constituent use, GLP-1 drugs, nutrition, infectious disease, “forever chemicals” and microplastics.

Saphier’s book emphasizes nan domiciled of individual action, not “big government”, successful improving health. While she “leans heavy toward ‘personal responsibility’ and is skeptical of authorities intervention”, that position will hopefully “soften” erstwhile she gets a amended position of nan nationalist wellness scenery successful America, Adams said. “You can’t ever make nan patient prime erstwhile nan situation only offers bad ones.”

The surgeon wide makes recommendations connected health, including vaccines – and Saphier has often downplayed vaccines, particularly mandates to be school, which are group astatine nan state, not federal, level.

In February 2025, arsenic bales began rising successful nan United States, she said astir “good research” shows that vaccines aren’t linked to autism. In March 2026, she erstwhile again expressed interest astir nan spiraling bales outbreak and decreasing vaccination rates.

“We person to get backmost connected track,” she said connected her podcast, earlier taking purpose astatine vaccine mandates for schoolhouse attendance. “We request to rotation backmost a batch of nan mandates, but we besides request to make judge that location is clear messaging that vaccines – while they travel pinch risks, they are overwhelmingly safe and they do forestall morbidity and mortality from what would beryllium a preventable illness.”

Saphier criticized really nan management handled changes to nan regular puerility vaccine schedule.

“I didn’t really for illustration nan measurement they communicated these caller changes. I deliberation it created a batch much confusion,” she said connected nan podcast successful January. She highlighted nan differences betwixt nan US and different countries, saying that comparisons were for illustration “apples and oranges”.

She has besides called nan schedule into question, looking “more critically” into puerility vaccines aft her boy became sick pinch whooping cough, she said successful September connected her podcast.

“Questioning nan vaccine schedule, that doesn’t mean you’re anti-vax,” she added.

When it comes to decreasing vaccination rates crossed nan country, “we person to fig retired what’s causing this and what tin we do to move guardant truthful that group tin really spot nan nationalist wellness process each complete again,” she said. She attributed nan diminution to Covid vaccine mandates and rising misinformation online.

She besides questioned why hepatitis B vaccines are required for schoolhouse attendance. “It’s not highly contagious,” she said successful nan aforesaid podcast episode, though hepatitis B can linger connected surfaces, specified arsenic nail clippers and sports equipment, for up to a week. Hepatitis B tin origin terrible unwellness successful children, but decades of grounds show nan information and effectiveness of hepatitis B vaccines.

“Sometimes she talks astir spacing retired nan vaccine schedule. That’s nonsense. There’s nary logic to do that,” Caplan said. “What’s vulnerable to a kid is not getting each nan vaccines properly.” Caplan besides pointed to nan emergence of misinformation and nan diminution of vaccination: “To sow uncertainty astir nan information of vaccines astatine a clip erstwhile we request them much than ever is still a bad thing, and I don’t work together pinch her erstwhile she does that astatine all.”

Saphier claimed incorrectly successful February 2021 that children did not transmit Covid arsenic good arsenic adults do, and she said teachers should return to schoolhouse earlier vaccines were afloat rolled retired because “science shows it is safe to spell backmost to schoolhouse without a vaccine.” In December 2021, erstwhile nan Omicron version emerged, Saphier said: “It is clip to move guardant and let this mild infection to move truthful we tin proceed to build that hybrid immunity.” About 244,000 Americans died of Covid nan pursuing year. In 2022, Saphier claimed that nan US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were preparing to instruction Covid shots for each schoolchildren – a rumor that was wide circulated and remains an anti-vaccine talking point.

In much caller months, she pushed backmost connected statements from Trump and wellness officials attempting to nexus autism to acetaminophen (Tylenol) usage during pregnancy, pointing alternatively to nan consequence of precocious fevers.

“The connection can’t be, perfectly do thing to debar Tylenol. It should be, usage it sparingly and only usage it aft talking to nan doctor,” she said successful September.

But she praised removing nan afloat proposal for Covid vaccination among children. “I was ever against vaccinating patient young kids. I’m very happy to spot astatine this constituent that they are removing it from nan recommended vaccine schedule,” she said. She criticized nan American Academy of Pediatrics for recommending vaccines aft Kennedy slashed recommendations. When Kennedy was nominated for HHS, Saphier said he was “by acold 1 of nan champion visionaries erstwhile it comes to nan healthcare industry”.

Saphier has besides been a vocal opponent to gender-affirming care. In an interview connected her podcast pinch personification who detransitioned Saphier said that being transgender is simply a intelligence wellness rumor constituting a “national emergency” and questioned whether being transgender is simply a “fad”. She has besides opposed research connected hormone blockers.

Separately, Saphier owns Drop Rx, an herbal tincture company. She praises nan powerfulness of supplements for illustration hers connected societal media, including really “rosemary and sage alteration Alzheimer’s risk” – claims that person not been evaluated by nan US Food and Drug Administration, since nan multibillion-dollar wellness manufacture is mostly unregulated.

When cancer research was halted past year, Saphier said her colleagues were concerned, but she defended nan cuts made by nan “department of authorities efficiency” (Doge), nan short-lived and costly effort headed by Elon Musk to trim authorities programs.

“I deliberation Doge is astir apt 1 of nan top things to hap successful US history,” she said.