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President Donald Trump downplayed reports that he is preparing to fire Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Marty Makary while speaking to reporters on Friday.
“I've been reading about it, but I don't know anything about it,” Trump said in response to a question about Makary's possible firing. When asked what was going on with Makary, Trump replied “no big deal.”
The first talk of Makary's possible ouster began circulating when the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Trump had pressed Makary to speed up the approval of nicotine-flavored vapes.
Makary, according to the WSJ, pushed back on the request, drawing Trump's ire.
The conflict forced Trump to sign a plan to fire Makary, the WSJ reported Friday.
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President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. they watched as the Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary delivers remarks during the announcement of important medical and scientific discoveries for American children in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on September 22, 2025. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Trump did not confirm the WSJ's reporting, instead telling reporters “no, no” when asked if he was bringing in a new FDA head.
Makary has been involved in many controversies since he was confirmed as the head of the FDA in March 2025.
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary speaks during a press conference with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, DC, on Oct. 29, 2025, discussing the administration's plans to lower drug costs. (Annabelle Gordon/REUTERS)
Pro-life activists accuse the former oncology surgeon of being slow to test the safety of the abortion pill mifepristone.
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“This is a five-alarm issue for the pro-life movement and the GOP,” SBA Pro-Life America president Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a statement calling for his dismissal.
“The GOP will not succeed without its base and will not find the enthusiasm that drives people to come in without senior leadership,” he wrote.
Pharmaceutical and biotech firms also oppose Makary. John Crowley, head of the biotech trade group, the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), criticized Makary's staff cuts in a recent op-ed.
“Some of the administration's recent efforts to reform the federal government through aggressive and often indiscriminate staff reductions have lacked the necessary understanding to modernize and reform our nation's health agencies, particularly the FDA,” Crowley wrote.
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But others, particularly those in Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) camp, have come to Makary's defense, opposing calls for him to be fired over the company-sponsored attack.
“Dr. Makary is a co-founder of the MAHA organization,” Kelly Ryerson, a popular author and advocate also known as the Glyphosate Girl, told Fox News Digital.
Food activist Vani Hari attends a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, at the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 29, 2025. (Ben Curtis/AP)
“It is not surprising that his uncompromising way of protecting people's lives has been met with a swamp that wants him fired,” he continued.
“The criticism is that he didn't allow flavored vapes soon enough. Mothers who don't want their kids to smoke find that thinking scary,” Ryerson concluded.
“The attack on FDA Commissioner Marty Makary comes from Big Pharma and the media depends financially on pharmaceutical advertising to survive,” wrote Turning Point USA host Alex Clark in a Friday column on X.
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“Washington SWAMP CREATURES hate Makary because he brings real scientific scrutiny, independent thinking, and puts the health of the American people FIRST. President Trump has consistently said he wants to make America Healthy Again. Replacing Makary with a pharma puppet will take us backwards, not forwards. DON'T FIRE MAKARY. He is one of the MAHAIGWAWAW federal representatives of the BHAIG W. Clark government wrote.
Vani Hari, a popular food blogger and prominent media expert within the MAHA movement, also wrote that Makary's dismissal “would be a bad move.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House, HHS, FDA, BIO and SBA Pro-Life America for further comment.
