--- title: Donald Trump Just Suggested Ronny Jackson Drop Out description: President Donald Trump suggested that his own Veterans Affairs nominee Ronny Jackson, whose Senate hearing was recently postponed, drop out. canonical: https://time.com/5252833/donald-trump-ronny-jackson/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-04-24T18:16:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-12T20:21:13.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump Just Suggested His Own Veterans Affairs Nominee That He Drop Out og:description: "I don't want to put a man through a process like this. It's too ugly and disgusting" og:url: https://time.com/5252833/donald-trump-ronny-jackson/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt93544eb93e020a98/69892e87929fadce33bf05ca/ronny-jackson-confirmation-va.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5568 og:image:height: 3132 og:image:alt: Ronny Jackson VA Confirmation og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump Just Suggested His Own Veterans Affairs Nominee That He Drop Out twitter:description: "I don't want to put a man through a process like this. It's too ugly and disgusting" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt93544eb93e020a98/69892e87929fadce33bf05ca/ronny-jackson-confirmation-va.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Just Suggested To His Own Veterans Affairs Nominee That He Drop Out > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Updated: Dec 12, 2023 8:21 PM UTCPublished: Apr 24, 2018 6:16 PM UTC  Dr. Ronny Jackson, nominee for Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in Washington on April 16, 2018\. Isaks Dr. Ronny Jackson, nominee for Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in Washington on April 16, 2018\. IsaksTom Williams—CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Updated: Dec 12, 2023 8:21 PM UTCPublished: Apr 24, 2018 6:16 PM UTC President Donald Trump suggested that his own Veterans Affairs nominee, Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson, drop out, arguing that the Senate confirmation process is “too ugly and disgusting.” Speaking at a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron, Trump said that he was not aware of the “particular allegations” about improper workplace behavior leveled at Jackson, who currently serves as the White House physician, but he said he suggested Jackson consider withdrawing. “I said to Dr. Jackson, ‘What do you need it for?'” he said. “I don’t want to put a man through a process like this. It’s too ugly and disgusting.” He said that Jackson will be making the choice on whether to drop out: “It’s totally his decision,” Trump said. Jackson, who first drew attention after he [gave Trump’s annual physical](http://time.com/5104183/donald-trump-health-ronny-jackson/) at a January press conference, had his [confirmation hearing delayed](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/senate-postpones-confirmation-hearing-for-ronny-jackson-to-head-veterans-affairs/2018/04/23/8d2bfd14-471d-11e8-ad53-d5751c8f243f%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.51acbea3fd05) after top Republicans and Democrats raised concerns about his lack of relevant management experience and allegations of improper conduct on the job. “We need to know if allegations raised by others may have some factual basis. That’s the process of vetting that has to occur,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal [told reporters](https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/23/politics/ronny-jackson-veterans-affairs-nomination/index.html) Monday. Jackson told NBC News that he was disappointed about the delay. “I’m looking forward to the hearing, so we can sit down and I can explain everything to everyone and answer all the senators’ questions,” he said. At the press conference, Trump did not rebut any of the as-yet undetailed claims but vouched for Jackson overall. “I haven’t heard of the particular allegations, but I will tell you he is one of the finest people I’ve met,” Trump said at the press conference. _With Tessa Berenson in Washington_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5252833/donald-trump-ronny-jackson/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5252833/donald-trump-ronny-jackson/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Just Suggested To His Own Veterans Affairs Nominee That He Drop Out","datePublished":"2018-04-24T18:16:12.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-12T20:21:13.000Z","description":"President Donald Trump suggested that his own Veterans Affairs nominee Ronny Jackson, whose Senate hearing was recently postponed, drop out.","url":"https://time.com/5252833/donald-trump-ronny-jackson/","keywords":["White House","Donald Trump","Veterans Affairs"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt93544eb93e020a98/69892e87929fadce33bf05ca/ronny-jackson-confirmation-va.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ryan Teague Beckwith","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt93544eb93e020a98/69892e87929fadce33bf05ca/ronny-jackson-confirmation-va.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ronny Jackson VA Confirmation","caption":"Ronny Jackson VA Confirmation","creditText":"Tom Williams—CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5252833/donald-trump-ronny-jackson/","name":"Donald Trump Just Suggested To His Own Veterans Affairs Nominee That He Drop Out"}}]}] ```