JUST IN: Top Health Official Out of a Job After Irking Trump

(Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images)
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary is planning to resign on Tuesday, according to a report from The Washington Post.
His exit comes shortly after he was “upbraided” by President Donald Trump for not moving swiftly enough to approve flavored vapes and nicotine products. CNN’s Kaitlan Collins reported on Tuesday that Makary quit after it became clear Trump was ready to fire him.
Trump went off on the commissioner in a meeting earlier this month after a flurry of phone calls with advisers, where Trump asked about the importance of flavored vapes with young MAGA voters. The president vowed to “save” vaping during his 2024 campaign.
“Advisers told the president that Makary has blocked Trump’s vaping agenda and described the commissioner as a problem for the administration,” the Wall Street Journal reported last week. “Makary earlier bucked White House preferences by refusing to OK menthol, mango and blueberry vape flavors from Los Angeles manufacturer Glas.”
That same report said Makary was on “thin ice” with the Trump administration.
Makary is set to join a growing list of officials who have left the administration this year, including recently-fired Attorney General Pam Bondi and former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.
He was nominated by Trump to run the FDA following the president’s November ’24 victory and was confirmed in March 2025.
Politico reported “Kyle Diamantas, who previously worked as the top food official at the agency, will lead the FDA in an acting capacity” following Makary’s exit.
Flavored cartridge-based vapes have been banned by the FDA since 2020. States like New York and California have also banned most flavored vape and tobacco products.
Makary had talked to Trump about pivoting away from his anti-flavored vape stance, according to the WSJ report last week, but it “wasn’t clear” whether Makary had changed his mind. Instead, he has decided to leave the administration altogether.
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