Trump, fellow Americans will be able to continue eating McDonald's, health nominee RFK Jr. promises

President Trump will not have to give up his favorite McDonald’s meal, nor will the American people, Health and Human Services Secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said.

Mr. Kennedy referenced the president’s McDonald’s order while answering questions during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee.

“I don’t want to take food away from anybody,” he said. “If you like a McDonald’s cheeseburger and a Diet Coke, which my boss loves, you should be able to get them. If you want to eat Hostess Twinkies, you should be able to do that. But you should know what the impacts are on your family and your health.”

Mr. Kennedy’s comments came in response to a question from Senate Finance Chairman Mike Crapo, Idaho Republican, who asked about integrating nutrition-based interventions into government health care programs like Medicaid and Medicare.

Mr. Kennedy said there are several ways to tackle that, including through federal funding for school lunch programs and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

“We shouldn’t be spending 10% of the SNAP program on sugary drinks,” he said. “We have a direct ability to change things there.”

As to Medicaid and Medicare, he said, “We need to focus on outcome-based medicine, on putting people in charge of their own health care, make them accountable for their own health care, so they understand the relationship between eating and getting sick.”

Mr. Kennedy also suggested using federal research institutes to study the relationship between different food additives and chronic disease.