By Virginia Grace McKinnon, The Daily Signal | May 04, 2026
President Donald Trump’s new pick for surgeon general is a resounding win for the pro-life movement but might not be for the Make America Healthy Again movement.
Trump tapped Fox Newsopens in a new tab contributor Dr. Nicole B. Saphier to be his third nominee for U.S. surgeon general after withdrawing Dr. Casey Means’ nomination, which failed to get the support of the Senate.
“I am pleased to announce that I am nominating Dr. Nicole B. Saphier to be the next SURGEON GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. opens in a new tab“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.”
“She is also an INCREDIBLE COMMUNICATOR, who makes complicated health issues more easily understood by all Americans,” Trump added.
Means, sister of MAHA advocate Calley Meansopens in a new tab, dealt with heavy pushback due to her stance on vaccines. But Saphier, who has less of a focus on vaccines, could be the key to Trump getting a surgeon general nomination through the Senate committee.
But Who is Dr. Saphier?
Saphier is a voice for the pro-life movement with a personal witness. She got pregnant unexpectedly at 17 and was in a real position to choose abortion or life. She chose life.
She and her son Hudson recently published a children’s book together, “That’s What Family Is For.”
In an interview with The Conservateur,opens in a new tab Saphier shared more about the decision to choose life and what it meant for her life.
“Motherhood is the greatest blessing that this life has to offer and while we certainly do feel like maybe we’re doing a million things at once, and we probably are, but women are created that way. That’s why women are so good at multitasking. That’s why we’re so nurturing,” she said.
“When I found out I was pregnant at 17, it was a very lonely time. I felt very isolated, very fearful, and didn’t really know what the future had in store,” she shared.
When asked how she found her faith, Saphier said, “I just remember feeling that after reading [my Bible] that nothing will be placed before me that I can’t overcome. … So while I may feel like I may be sinking into this lonely abyss, I’m not. … That gave me great comfort.”
MAHA Is Unsure
While the pro-life community is calling Saphier’s appoointment a win, leaders in the MAHA movement don’t seem as sure.
Alex Clark, a Turning Point USA spokesperson and MAHA advocate, voiced her concerns about Saphier on social media shortly after the president announced her nomination.
“Dr. Saphier would be a catastrophic mistake on messaging and communicating with MAHA at a time where the coalition is very fragile,” Clark wrote. “It will be perceived as the admin breaking another promise to them and embracing the status quo in health care that ended us smack dab in the middle of the chronic disease epidemic we now find ourselves in.”
“My position isn’t to replace Dr. Saphier. It’s to completely DOGE the surgeon general role. If we don’t, we risk accelerating the loss of one of the most activated voting blocs the GOP is already watching slip away,” Clark concluded.
Medical Credentials
Saphier earned her medical degree as an international medical graduate at Ross University School of Medicine and completed fellowships at the Mayo Clinic. She is now a radiologist and the director of breast imaging at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center–Monmouth.
Saphier is also the host of Wellness Unmasked, a health podcast, and the author of “Make America Healthy Again: How Bad Behavior and Big Government Caused a Trillion-Dollar Crisis.” She released her book in 2020, long before Robert F. Kennedy Jr. popularized the MAHA acronym during his 2024 presidential run.
Virginia Grace McKinnon is a journalism fellow for the Daily Signal.
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