Calley Means, who resigned as a top federal health official two weeks ago after clashing with the White House, on Friday accused President Trump\u2019s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, of bowing to \u201cunrelenting\u201d pressure from industry lobbyists while prioritizing political fund-raising over Americans\u2019 health.<\/p>\n
In a two-hour interview<\/a> with the podcaster Joe Rogan, Mr. Means said that Ms. Wiles withheld support from his efforts to make children\u2019s diets healthier, citing the need for sugar industry money. He said her team demanded more approvals of flavored e-cigarettes, a top priority<\/a> for major tobacco companies that donated at least $20 million to the G.O.P. in 2026. And he said they gave in to heavy lobbying from the kratom industry to relax proposed restrictions<\/a> on products often referred to as \u201cgas station heroin.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSusie said to me many times: \u2018We need money for the midterms, Calley. We need money for the midterms,\u2019\u201d Mr. Means said.<\/p>\n In recent days, Ms. Wiles has become a target of criticism and finger-pointing in an escalating blame game after Republicans\u2019 stunning losses in the midterm elections. In a post on Truth Social on Friday afternoon, Mr. Trump announced that Ms. Wiles would leave her post on Monday and Stephen Miller, a top White House adviser, would replace her<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cSusie Wiles, who has done an outstanding job, will be moving over to the Trump Political Operation. I want to thank her for her service as Chief of Staff \u2014 She has done a great job!\u201d<\/p>\n Ms. Wiles and the White House were not immediately available to comment. The White House and the Department of Health and Human Services have responded to past allegations of lobbying influence on the administration\u2019s health care policies by saying the administration consistently acted in the best interest of the American people.<\/p>\n Mr. Means, a close ally of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who helped build the Make America Healthy Again movement, avoided criticizing Mr. Kennedy or Mr. Trump. He directed his ire almost entirely at Ms. Wiles, a former lobbyist and political consultant, who he asserted had \u201cspent her career taking money,\u201d including from the pharmaceutical and pesticide industries and from the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, a former client.<\/p>\n Mr. Means framed Ms. Wiles and her top deputies as welcoming lobbyists into the White House while sidelining Mr. Kennedy and infantilizing Mr. Trump. Mr. Means made a larger argument about the corrosive role of corporate money in politics, but also suggested that the president should \u201cexorcise\u201d Ms. Wiles and her aides \u201cfrom the White House.\u201d<\/p>\n Ms. Wiles\u2019s policy interests also aligned with those benefiting her family, Mr. Means said, claiming that any corporation that hired her daughter, Katie Wiles, a lobbyist for Continental Strategy, \u201cwas getting a high priority.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo if you\u2019re a special interest and you want to get something done, the secret\u2019s out,\u201d Mr. Means said. \u201cYou pay Susie\u2019s daughter, and it was openly discussed when they had a client.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Means\u2019s tirade against Ms. Wiles, while depicting Mr. Kennedy as a \u201chero,\u201d comes as Democrats are beginning to consider their new powers to investigate what they view as the most destructive actions of the Trump administration. Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who will lead the influential Senate Finance Committee, has already announced<\/a> an investigation into Mr. Kennedy\u2019s role in \u201ccorruption favoring\u201d of the tobacco and kratom industries.<\/p>\n In the podcast interview, Mr. Means said the administration fumbled a series of issues that had been crucial to the MAHA coalition that had helped propel Mr. Trump to the presidency.<\/p>\n The missteps included an executive order aimed at supporting the production of glyphosate<\/a>, the herbicide tied to cancer that many MAHA supporters want to see restricted. The order was issued in February, as the Supreme Court was about to hear oral arguments in a case that would determine whether Bayer, the maker of glyphosate, could receive immunity from lawsuits alleging the weedkiller caused cancer.<\/p>\n Mr. Means asserted that military leaders did not believe the order was necessary to protect national security, as the White House said. He described how one of Ms. Wiles\u2019s deputies dropped the executive order on a table and said it was nonnegotiable.<\/p>\n \u201cI read it, I said, \u2018This is a political disaster,\u2019\u201d Mr. Means recalled. The aide was insistent. \u201cPlease inform Bobby. And this is not up for discussion.\u201d He pointedly told Mr. Means that the health secretary should not call the president, adding, \u201cSusie then called Bobby\u2019s office and said, \u2018We\u2019re not discussing this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The executive order was announced the next day, infuriating MAHA leaders.<\/p>\n Mr. Means also claimed that Dr. Heidi Overton, then a White House health official whom Mr. Trump has since nominated to lead the Food and Drug Administration, had helped Justice Department officials create legal arguments urging the Supreme Court<\/a> to review the glyphosate case and supporting Bayer\u2019s position<\/a>.<\/p>\n