It started as a routine visit to speak with the president and ended as one of the more surprising health-related exchanges to emerge from this administration. Dr. Mehmet Oz, who serves as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, recounted catching President Donald Trump drinking an orange soft drink aboard Air Force One and being met with an unexpected justification for the habit.
According to Oz, who shared the story during a recent podcast appearance, Trump defended his soda consumption by arguing that it could be beneficial to his health, specifically that because certain sodas are capable of killing grass when poured on it, the same logic might apply to cancer cells inside the body. Oz described his own reaction as one of genuine disbelief.
The podcast on which Oz made the remarks is hosted by Trump’s eldest son, who confirmed during the conversation that his father’s preferred drink is Fanta and suggested, partly in jest, that the president’s remarkable energy levels at his age might be evidence that the unconventional approach to health is working for him somehow.
A diet that has drawn scrutiny from all directions
Trump’s relationship with food and beverages has been a recurring topic since he returned to office in January 2025. Reports have described a daily routine that includes multiple cans of Diet Coke, fast food, and candy. An on-demand soda button was reportedly installed on the Oval Office’s Resolute Desk to make the drinks more accessible throughout the workday.
The comments from Oz come alongside ongoing public conversation about the president’s physical condition. Trump has been photographed on multiple occasions with visibly swollen ankles and bruised hands since returning to the White House. In a wide-ranging interview earlier this year, he acknowledged taking more aspirin than his physicians recommend and said he had stopped wearing compression socks for the ankle swelling. He also expressed regret about undergoing advanced medical imaging, citing the scrutiny it brought rather than any specific finding.
The White House physician issued a statement earlier this year describing Trump as being in exceptional health and fully capable of carrying out his duties as commander in chief.
Concerns from the medical community
Even as the White House has maintained that the president is in good health, a number of medical professionals have raised questions publicly about his cognitive and physical condition. Several doctors, speaking through social media and broadcast appearances, have pointed to what they describe as signs of cognitive decline, including difficulty finishing sentences, disorganized speech, and what they characterize as an increasingly erratic public presentation. Trump has consistently denied these assessments and has cited his performance on multiple cognitive evaluations as evidence that he is functioning well. He has not been publicly diagnosed with any cognitive condition.
The president’s diet has also prompted commentary from within his own circle. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who serves as secretary of health and human services and has made food quality and corporate influence over the American diet a centerpiece of his public role, has spoken openly about being puzzled by Trump’s eating habits. Kennedy has noted that the president’s diet is, by most conventional health standards, far from ideal, yet Trump appears to maintain a level of energy and stamina that defies easy explanation.
The gap between advice and practice
What emerges from this particular moment is a portrait of a president who is surrounded by some of the most prominent voices in American medicine and public health, and who has nonetheless developed his own framework for thinking about what his body needs. The soda and cancer theory, whatever its scientific merit, is apparently not something Trump has kept private. He shared it with his doctor in a moment that Oz clearly found more amusing than reassuring.
Whether any of the people around Trump have found a way to meaningfully influence his habits remains an open question.
