--- title: Trump Appoints Ronny Jackson as Chief Medical Advisor description: President Donald Trump has appointed Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson to be his chief medical adviser and assistant. canonical: https://time.com/5519459/trump-ronny-jackson-chief-medical-advisor/ author: Alejandro de la Garza article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-02-03T19:10:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T22:39:44.842Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump Appoints Ronny Jackson, Who Withdrew From VA Head Consideration, to Chief Medical Advisor og:description: His nomination to head the VA was derailed by allegations of professional misconduct og:url: https://time.com/5519459/trump-ronny-jackson-chief-medical-advisor/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt311b3d7f623791bc/6989446e22fb85cc58e27b51/ronny-jackson-white-house.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Ronny Jackson og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump Appoints Ronny Jackson, Who Withdrew From VA Head Consideration, to Chief Medical Advisor twitter:description: His nomination to head the VA was derailed by allegations of professional misconduct twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt311b3d7f623791bc/6989446e22fb85cc58e27b51/ronny-jackson-white-house.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Appoints Ronny Jackson, Who Withdrew From VA Head Consideration, to Chief Medical Advisor > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### 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. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=ab66c9ec-aa16-43ae-9766-3f4c48e837bf&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1)  by [Alejandro de la Garza](https://time.com/author/alejandro-de-la-garza/)  ## Alejandro de la Garza Feb 3, 2019 7:10 PM UTC  Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson, leaves Dirksen Building after a meeting on Capitol Hill with Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., on April 24, 2018. Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson, leaves Dirksen Building after a meeting on Capitol Hill with Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., on April 24, 2018. Tom Williams—CQ-Roll Call,Inc.  by [Alejandro de la Garza](https://time.com/author/alejandro-de-la-garza/)  ## Alejandro de la Garza Feb 3, 2019 7:10 PM UTC President Donald Trump has appointed [Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson](http://time.com/5259627/ronny-jackson-white-house-physician/) to be his chief medical adviser and assistant, according to [an announcement](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/president-donald-j-trump-announces-appointments-executive-office-president-4/) issued Saturday. The decision comes months after Jackson, who has served as a White House physician since 2006, [withdrew his nomination](http://time.com/5255604/ronny-jackson-withdraws-veterans-affair-head/) to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs in April 2018\. The withdraw came after mounting allegations of professional misconduct against Jackson, including claims of drinking on the job and overprescribing drugs like Ambien. He was also accused of wrecking a government vehicle at a Secret Service going-away party while under the influence of alcohol. The allegations led to a Pentagon investigation, during which Jackson returned to the White House’s medical unit as a staff physician, [according to CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/02/politics/ronny-jackson-white-house-chief-medical-adviser/index.html). In a statement at the time, Jackson described the allegations as “completely false and fabricated.” In an interview on _Fox and Friends_ in April, Trump blasted Democrats for putting forward the allegations against Jackson. “He would have done a great job… and they’re trying to destroy a guy,” Trump said. “There’s not proof of this. There’s no proof of this.” The Pentagon is [continuing to investigate](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-jackson/pentagon-watchdog-opens-probe-of-white-house-physician-ronny-jackson-idUSKCN1J02VZ) Jackson’s alleged professional misconduct. Jackson’s new appointment also comes shortly after the President’s decision to [re-nominate him for a second star](https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/01/politics/dr-ronny-jackson-renominated/index.html) in his military rank after the previous congress failed to act on his nomination. Last year, Jackson led the medical team that conducted Trump’s physical exam. He then said the President was in excellent health and has “incredibly good genes,” according to the [Associated Press](https://www.apnews.com/e73b65ac5e92468181489aaf65869fc7). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5519459/trump-ronny-jackson-chief-medical-advisor/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5519459/trump-ronny-jackson-chief-medical-advisor/"},"headline":"President Trump Appoints Ronny Jackson, Who Withdrew From VA Head Consideration, to Chief Medical Advisor","datePublished":"2019-02-03T19:10:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T22:39:44.842Z","description":"His nomination to head the VA was derailed by allegations of professional misconduct","url":"https://time.com/5519459/trump-ronny-jackson-chief-medical-advisor/","keywords":["White House","trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt311b3d7f623791bc/6989446e22fb85cc58e27b51/ronny-jackson-white-house.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alejandro de la Garza","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alejandro-de-la-garza/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt311b3d7f623791bc/6989446e22fb85cc58e27b51/ronny-jackson-white-house.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ronny Jackson","caption":"Ronny Jackson","creditText":"Tom Williams—CQ-Roll Call,Inc.","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/5519459/trump-ronny-jackson-chief-medical-advisor/","name":"President Trump Appoints Ronny Jackson, Who Withdrew From VA Head Consideration, to Chief Medical Advisor"}}]}] ```