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SNEAK PEEK OF TRUMP FOOD POLICY? Former President Donald Trump confirmed to Joe Rogan in a podcast episode released Friday that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a former presidential candidate and current MAHA (“Make America Healthy Again”) crusader, would have a place in his administration to focus on health and food policy. Trump just doesn’t want him touching decisions on environmental regulations.
“The only thing I want to be a little careful about with him is the environment because, you know, he doesn't like oil. I love oil,” Trump said. “I'm going to sort of keep him out. I said, ‘Focus on health. You could do whatever you want, but you got to be a little bit careful with the liquid gold.’” At his Madison Square Garden rally Sunday night, Trump called Kennedy's support "a great honor."
"I'm gonna let him go wild on health. I'm gonna let him go wild on the food. I'm gonna let him go wild on medicines," Trump said of Kennedy. Worth noting: Kennedy has already suggested he’ll have a role in health or food policy in a Trump administration.
He noted recently that “corporate interests have hijacked” USDA dietary guidelines and push ultra-processed foods on consumers. But that argument seems to go against previous Trump-era ag moves and could cause a clash between Kennedy’s anti-pesticide, anti-processed foods pitch and Trump’s big business ties.
“When Donald Trump gets me inside the building I’m standing outside of right now, it won’t be this way anymore. American agriculture will come roaring back, and so will American health,” Kennedy said in a social media video filmed outside USDA HQ. RFK’s FDA promise:
The former presidential candidate also posted a threatening message to current officials who he argued are suppressing natural health solutions to disease and obesity. “FDA’s war on public health is about to end,” Kennedy posted on X earlier this week, citing his pledges to support psychedelics, raw milk and “clean foods” among other things that “can’t be patented by Pharma.”
“If you work for the FDA and are part of this corrupt system, I have two messages for you: 1. Preserve your records, and 2. Pack your bags,” he wrote. What else we’re watching: Rogan on Friday asked Trump about Calley and Casey Means, two conservative advocates of focusing on “metabolic health” as a solution to chronic disease.
Calley Means, who was featured alongside Kennedy and Dr. Phil on a MAHA roundtable last week, could be another name to watch in the food and health policy transition into a Trump administration. FORMER USDA POV:
Ann Veneman, who served as ag secretary under George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005 and was the first female USDA chief, announced her endorsement of Kamala Harris last week. In an interview with MA, Veneman said she chose to endorse Harris because of her policies supporting beginning farmers and rural development. Veneman, who focused on trade expansion during her tenure in the Bush administration, also warned against Trump’s tariff plans: “If you start putting tariffs virtually across the board, the retaliation is most likely to hit agriculture.”
At the end of the day, the former secretary told us that the “tone of the race” is what drove her to endorse the vice president. “I do believe that people, especially in rural America, care about values,” Veneman said. “I am truly very concerned about some of the messaging and how it affects our children. I have friends who turn off the television if the news is on and something comes on about Trump, because they don't know what's going to come out of his mouth.”
Related reading: “What ‘Farmers for Trump’ Say about Another Trade War,” from the Wall Street Journal.
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