Trump appoints 'Dr. Oz' to key US health post, taps McMahon as education secretary

WASHINGTON

Former President Donald Trump (L) and Republican Senate candidate Mehmet Oz (R) attend a campaign rally in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, November 5th, 2022.

Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he was appointing Mehmet Oz, renowned Turkish-American cardiac ex-surgeon and TV celebrity known as "Dr. Oz," to lead the United States' massive public health insurance program as he nominated Linda McMahon, former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, to lead the Department of Education.

In a statement, Trump described Dr. Oz as a "world-class communicator" and "eminent physician" who will spearhead efforts to overhaul the nation's health care system.

"America is facing a healthcare crisis, and there may be no physician more qualified and capable than Dr. Oz to make America healthy again," he said, referencing the slogan he coined for his proposed healthcare reforms.

"Our broken healthcare system harms everyday Americans and crushes our country's budget. Dr. Oz will be a leader in incentivizing disease prevention, so we get the best results in the world for every dollar we spend on healthcare in our great country," he added.

He also noted that Oz will work closely with his Health and Human Services nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to address systemic issues in what Trump referred to as the "illness industrial complex.”

If confirmed, Dr. Oz would lead an agency responsible for administering healthcare coverage to more than 150 million Americans, overseeing one of the federal government’s largest budgets.

The 64-year-old heart surgeon was championed on daytime television by Oprah Winfrey before he entered politics with an unsuccessful bid for a Senate seat in 2022.

Oz is the latest of Trump's eye-catching nominations to key positions, including Fox News host Pete Hegseth to be defense secretary, vaccine skeptic Kennedy Jr. as health secretary, and billionaire Elon Musk to head a government cost-cutting unit.

As CMS administrator, Oz will be in charge of a federal agency that provides health coverage to more than 160 million Americans—almost half the country's population.

It employs about 6,700 people, had outlays of $1.48 trillion last year, and is one of the largest purchasers of healthcare services in the world.

A son of Turkish immigrants, Oz has never held public office before but has been a steadfast ally of Trump, who backed him in his unsuccessful Senate run in Pennsylvania.

Trump names education, commerce secretaries

Trump nominated Linda McMahon, former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, on Tuesday to lead the Department of Education, which he has pledged to abolish.

Describing McMahon as a "fierce advocate for Parents' Rights," Trump said in a statement: "We will send education BACK TO THE STATES, and Linda will spearhead that effort."

McMahon is a co-chair of Trump's transition team ahead of his return to the White House in January. It is tasked with filling some 4,000 positions in the government.

Regarding McMahon's experience in education, Trump cited her two-year stint on the Connecticut Board of Education and 16 years on the board of trustees at Sacred Heart University, a private Catholic school.

McMahon left WWE in 2009 to run in vain for U.S. Senate and has been a major donor to Trump.

Since 2021, she has chaired the Center for the American Worker at the Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute.

Her ties with Trump go back to her years in the professional wrestling industry; she said she first met him as chief executive at WWE.

At the culmination of a staged feud, Trump once body-slammed her husband, legendary wrestling promoter Vince McMahon, and shaved his head in the middle of a wrestling ring on live television.

Trump also nominated Howard Lutnick, the co-chair of his transition team, as his commerce secretary on Tuesday—a choice set to bring a tougher stance on China from the incoming administration.

Lutnick will also lead the country's tariff and trade agenda, with "additional direct responsibility for the Office of the United States Trade Representative," Trump said in a statement.

Tariffs are a key part of Trump's economic agenda, and he has promised sweeping duties on all imports when he returns to the White House.

Lutnick is chief executive of financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald and a Trump ally originally tipped as a front-runner for treasury secretary.

But he was instead named to helm Commerce, a smaller department that works to boost American industry and has a key role in policy to shore up the U.S. semiconductor sector and reduce reliance on Asia.

Under President Joe Biden, the Commerce Department stepped up export controls on critical technologies like quantum computing and semiconductor manufacturing goods, taking aim at access by adversaries like Beijing.

Trump's administration could harden this stance.

Lutnick has expressed support for a tariff level of 60 percent on Chinese goods alongside a 10 percent tariff on all other imports.

Both are among proposals that Trump has floated, with the Republican taking aim at countries that have been "ripping us off for years."

In Trump's first term he engaged in a tariff war with China, with the U.S. Trade Representative's office issuing duties on imports from the world's second-biggest economy.