Trump Designates Former WWE CEO and TV Personality Dr. Oz for Senior Government Roles

US President-elect Donald Trump has designated Linda McMahon, who previously served as CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and co-chaired his transition team, as his choice for education secretary. McMahon, a long-standing associate of Trump, previously headed the Small Business Administration during his initial presidential term and contributed millions of dollars to his presidential campaigns. Trump has voiced criticism of the Department of Education and has pledged its closure, a responsibility McMahon might oversee following his return to the White House in January 2025. Previously, Trump selected Mehmet Oz, a well-known doctor and former television host whose methods have faced examination, to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). These two appointments made on Tuesday, alongside Trump’s nomination of Howard Lutnick for commerce secretary, align with a recurring trend of the president-elect appointing devoted allies to prominent cabinet positions. McMahon possesses an extensive background with both the WWE and Trump, who occasionally attended wrestling events. She co-established Titan Sports with her husband in 1980, a company that subsequently evolved into the parent entity of WWE by the end of that decade. In 2009, she stepped down as CEO to pursue an unsuccessful campaign for the US Senate. While McMahon has limited experience in the field of education, she did serve on Connecticut state’s board of education between 2009 and 2010. She currently chairs the board of the America First Policy Institute, a pro-Trump think tank, which suggests her confirmation by the Republican-majority Senate is probable. Her appointment is among several high-level roles necessitating a vote of approval in the upper house of Congress. In his announcement on Truth Social, Trump stated: “For the past four years, as the chair of the board at the America First Policy Institute, Linda has been a fierce advocate for parents’ rights.” He indicated that McMahon would “spearhead” the initiative to “send education BACK TO THE STATES”, aligning with his commitment to dismantle the department. Republicans have leveled accusations against the education department, alleging it promotes what they characterize as “woke” political ideologies to children, particularly concerning gender and race. They advocate for the agency’s powers to be transferred to US states, which oversee the majority of educational affairs. Last month, McMahon was identified in a lawsuit pertaining to the WWE. The lawsuit claims that she, her husband, and other company executives knowingly permitted the abuse of young boys by a ringside announcer who passed away in 2012. The McMahons refute any misconduct. A legal representative for the couple informed USA Today Sports that these allegations constitute “false claims” originating from “absurd, defamatory and utterly meritless” media reports. Earlier, Trump had selected Mehmet Oz to lead the influential agency responsible for the healthcare of millions of Americans. Oz, chosen to head the CMS, pursued training as a surgeon prior to gaining prominence on The Oprah Winfrey Show in the early 2000s. Experts have criticized Oz for advocating what they termed unsound health advice regarding weight loss medications and “miracle” remedies, and for proposing malaria drugs as a treatment for Covid-19 during the initial stages of the pandemic. In a statement, Trump asserted: “There may be no physician more qualified and capable than Dr Oz to make America healthy again.” The Trump transition team issued a statement indicating that Oz “will work closely with [health secretary nominee] Robert F Kennedy Jr to take on the illness industrial complex, and all the horrible chronic diseases left in its wake”. Similar to McMahon, Oz’s appointment will require Senate confirmation next year before he can formally assume leadership of the agency. The CMS supervises the nation’s most extensive healthcare programs, extending coverage to over 150 million Americans. This agency is responsible for regulating health insurance and establishing policies that determine the remuneration for medical services provided by doctors, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the US government’s expenditure on Medicaid and Medicare combined exceeded $1.4 trillion (£1.1 trillion) in 2023. Trump stated that Oz would “cut waste and fraud within our country’s most expensive government agency”. The Republican Party’s platform has committed to enhancing transparency, choice, and competition, as well as broadening access to healthcare and prescription medications. Oz, aged 64, underwent training as a cardiothoracic surgeon, focusing on heart and lung operations, and was employed at New York City’s Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University. Following numerous appearances on Oprah segments, he launched The Dr Oz Show, through which he dispensed health guidance to his audience. However, the distinction between promotional content and scientific information on the program was frequently ambiguous, and Oz has advocated for homeopathy, alternative medicine, and other therapies that critics have labeled “pseudoscience”. During Senate hearings in 2014, he faced criticism for endorsing unverified pills, which he claimed would “literally flush fat from your system” and “push fat from your belly”. In those hearings, Oz stated that he never marketed any particular dietary supplements on his program. Nevertheless, he has publicly endorsed products outside of his show, and his financial connections to healthcare companies became public through filings submitted during his 2022 campaign for the US Senate in Pennsylvania. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, Oz advocated for the anti-malaria medications hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, which experts assert are not effective against the virus.