A prominent cardiologist has a message for President Donald Trump and his inner circle: skip the meat-and-sauerkraut diet.
Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a George Washington University cardiologist who treated former Vice President Dick Cheney and advised the White House Medical Unit under President George W. Bush, responded Sunday to a line in Molly Jong-Fast's New York Times guest essay.
Jong-Fast wrote that Trump's "cabinet of curiosities" is "reportedly eating the same 'living diet,' which consists almost entirely of hunks of meat and globs of sauerkraut." Citing New York Times Magazine reporting, she named Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Vice President JD Vance and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as followers.
Reiner said that's not advice he would give anyone.
"Cardiologist here. There's no patient for whom I recommend daily 'hunks of meat' and sauerkraut," he wrote on X.
He also pointed out a specific risk for anyone on cholesterol medication.
"If you take a statin a diet dense in meat is counterproductive," Reiner wrote. "As for the sauerkraut, it's high in sodium and will raise BP."
He ended with a message aimed at the president.
"The president should get his nutritional advice from his doctor, not his HHS Secretary," Reiner wrote.
Trump, 80, has taken a statin for years, according to past health reports from the White House. His diet has long been a subject of public fascination, from fast food on Air Force One to well-done steaks with ketchup.
Not everyone thought the president had joined his cabinet. Dorit Reiss, a law professor at UC Law San Francisco who studies vaccine policy, doubted he'd made the switch.
"I doubt the President is eating that," she replied.
Kennedy, who has promoted meat-heavy eating and fermented foods, has put diet at the center of his "Make America Healthy Again" agenda.
Cardiologist here. There’s no patient for whom I recommend daily “hunks of meat” and sauerkraut. If you take a statin a diet dense in meat is counterproductive. As for the sauerkraut, it’s high in sodium and will raise BP. The president should get his nutritional advice from his… https://t.co/7dW2aogGOV
— Jonathan Reiner (@JReinerMD) September 27, 2026
