Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary resigned his position Tuesday after irking President Trump with his slow-walking of flavored e-cigarette approvals.
Trump himself confirmed multiple reports that Makary had stepped down as the president left the White House en route to China for a summit with Xi Jinping.
“He’s a great doctor… [but] he was having some difficulty,” Trump explained, later adding that he thought Makary was “going to go on and live a good life.”
The president declined to say whether he had terminated Makary or whether the FDA boss had stepped down. Reports began circulating late last week that Trump had decided to move on from Makary, but no formal announcement of his job status was forthcoming.
Makary, a cancer doctor, regularly appeared with Trump over the past year at events promoting public health initiatives and the president’s efforts to drive down prescription drug prices, but also made powerful enemies.
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In addition to the well-connected executives in the vape industry, whom Trump promised to support during his successful 2024 presidential campaign, Makary angered advocates for rapid approval of treatments for rare ailments like Huntington’s disease, as well as anti-abortion advocates who wanted him to stop the mailing of mifepristone, part of a two-drug cocktail used to terminate pregnancies.