US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Dr. Marty Makary has resigned as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), marking the fourth high-profile departure from the Trump administration this year.
“He’s a great doctor and he was having some difficulty, but he’s going to go on, and he’s going to do well,” Trump told reporters referring to Makary.
Trump said on Truth Social that Kyle Diamantas, the FDA’s top food regulator, would take over as acting commissioner.
“I want to thank Dr. Marty Makary for having done a great job at the FDA. So much was accomplished under his leadership. He was a hard worker, who was respected by all, and will go on to have an outstanding career in Medicine,” Trump said in a post adding that the acting position will be filled by Kyle Diamantas, which he described as “a very talented person.”
Makary was a longtime surgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital and is a professor emeritus at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Diamantas is a lawyer and does not have a medical degree.
A report by NBC News said the FDA’s decision to approve fruit-flavored vapes for adults in the US after months of industry and presidential pressure prompted Makary to resign, as he opposed the move and refused to publicly defend it.
His departure marked the fourth major exit from the Trump administration this year. Since January, former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and former Attorney General Pam Bondi were dismissed, while former Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned in April during a misconduct investigation.
