Trump nominates Dr. Oz to lead Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

US President-elect Donald Trump nominated renowned Turkish-American cardiac surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz on Tuesday as the next administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

In a statement, Trump described Dr. Oz as a "world-class communicator" and "eminent physician" who will spearhead efforts to overhaul the nation's health care system.

"America is facing a Healthcare Crisis, and there may be no Physician more qualified and capable than Dr. Oz to Make America Healthy Again," he said, referencing the slogan he coined for his proposed health care reforms.

"Our broken Healthcare System harms everyday Americans and crushes our Country's budget. Dr. Oz will be a leader in incentivizing Disease Prevention, so we get the best results in the World for every dollar we spend on Healthcare in our Great Country," he added.

He also noted that Oz will work closely with his Health and Human Services nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to address systemic issues in what Trump referred to as the "illness industrial complex.”

"If confirmed, Dr. Oz would lead an agency responsible for administering healthcare coverage to more than 150 million Americans, overseeing one of the federal government's largest budgets.

The 64-year-old Turkish-American previously ran as a Republican candidate in Pennsylvania's 2022 Senate race, where he was defeated in the midterm elections.

Dr. Oz rose to prominence as the host of The Dr. Oz Show, a long-running daytime program that earned nine Daytime Emmy Awards. A graduate of Harvard College, he holds both an MD and MBA from the University of Pennsylvania. Oz served as a professor of surgery at Columbia University and has authored more than 400 medical publications.