Transcript of Trump-Dr. Oz Swearing-in Event In The Oval Office

President Donald Trump hosted a ceremony to swear in Dr. Mehmet Oz as the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The event took place in the Oval Office on April 18, 2025, where Trump highlighted Dr. Oz’s qualifications and discussed his vision for the role. Below is the full transcript:

Listen to the audio version here:

Opening Remarks and Introduction

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much everybody, this is a very important day. It’s a day that we’re delighted to swear in Dr. Mehmet Oz as the next administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which is a big deal. Congratulations to Dr. Oz and his beautiful wife, Lisa, and their friends and family on this really incredible achievement. Come a long way, huh, isn’t this amazing?

Dr. Oz comes to this position as one of the nation’s most talented and beloved medical professionals. He graduated from Harvard University—should we talk about Harvard?—before obtaining his MD at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, a great one, and really some amazing education while also earning an MBA from the wonderful Wharton School of Business.

Dr. Oz’s Impressive Background

PRESIDENT TRUMP: He completed his medical residency at the world-renowned New York-Presbyterian Columbia University Medical Center. Dr. Oz then had a sterling medical career in which he became an internationally acclaimed heart and lung surgeon, highly respected. He served as director of the Cardiovascular Institute and Integrative Medicine Program at New York-Presbyterian and as a long-time professor at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Boy, oh boy, I thought he just did a show. I only know the show. You know why I know the show? Because he said, I’m a little overweight, I should lose some weight. I did a show, and that’s what I got out of it.

That was not good. But I’m looking at all of his other accomplishments—this is very impressive.

Dr. Oz authored more than 400 contributions to academic and scientific publications, there are several patents for technologies that revolutionized cardiovascular surgery, and Dr. Oz later translated his experience into an extraordinarily successful television career, making him one of the most trusted voices on healthcare, and he also got very high ratings, I can tell you that. He did great with the television thing.

Vision for CMS Under Dr. Oz

PRESIDENT TRUMP: As CMS Administrator, Dr. Oz will work tirelessly to strengthen and protect Medicare for our nation’s seniors, and Medicaid for the needy. Just as I promised, there will be no cuts, we’re not going to have any cuts, we’re going to have only help.

Dr. Oz will work to improve the quality of care for decades to come, and he’ll ensure that criminals, fraudsters, and illegal aliens are not permitted to rob America’s seniors. They are trying, but they’re not going to get away with it.

He will also work alongside Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.—I’ve heard of him, he’s a pretty famous guy, he’s doing a great job, too—to address the crisis of chronic illness and to make America healthy again.

So I want to just thank Dr. Oz, because this is a big commitment he’s making, he has a lot of options, and this is a big, big commitment, and I want to congratulate you and your family on really an amazing life, and I think this is going to be, by far, the most important part of an already incredible life. So thank you very much. God bless you. God bless you, my friend. Thank you very much. Take care of yourself. Congratulations. It’s amazing.

Swearing-In Ceremony

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Are you ready, Bobby?

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.: I sure am.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Okay, let’s do it.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.: You put your hand on the Bible, your left hand, and raise your right hand, and repeat after me.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.: I, Mehmet Oz, do solemnly swear.

DR. OZ: I, Mehmet Oz, do solemnly swear.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.: That I will support and defend the constitution of the United States.

DR. OZ: That I will support and defend the constitution of the United States.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.: Against all enemies foreign and domestic.

DR. OZ: Against all enemies foreign and domestic.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.: That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same.

DR. OZ: That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.: That I take this obligation freely.

DR. OZ: That I take this obligation freely.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.: Without any mental reservation.

DR. OZ: Without any mental reservation.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.: Or purpose of evasion.

DR. OZ: Or purpose of evasion.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.: And that I will well and faithfully.

DR. OZ: And that I will well and faithfully.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.: Discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter.

DR. OZ: Discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.: So help me God.

DR. OZ: So help me God.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Congratulations.

Dr. Oz’s Acceptance Speech

DR. OZ: I’ve got to start off by thanking three people. Mr. President, thank you very much. God bless you for leading our nation. But also courageously leading the MAHA movement. Really earnestly in your heart wanting to get America to be healthy again. And for giving me an opportunity to help with that mission.

Secretary Kennedy has been leading the charge at Health and Human Services. A dear friend, like a brother, has done unbelievably courageous work. Because he’s curious and he’s started answering a lot of important questions. And I will treasure for the rest of my days your trust in me to help you with this progress. Thank you.

And of course Lisa, the family. But Lisa in particular who’s had an uncanny ability to identify opportunities. And to always keep a clear north star to keep our family grounded. God bless you my beautiful one.

Dr. Oz Outlines His Vision for CMS

DR. OZ: Let me start with a simple premise. Every great society, everyone. Everyone has an opportunity to take care of its most vulnerable. And treasures that opportunity. And we’re a great people so we will do the same.

As we enter the main building, Humphrey’s building. Where Health and Human Services is located. There’s a placard of Hubert Humphrey. And it says that it’s a moral opportunity, a moral obligation of government. To take care of people in the dawn of their life, the kids. In the twilight of their life, the elderly, the mature, the seniors. And those in the shadows of life. Those struggling with disabilities.

We want to provide America with access to great care. We want to save the public health insurance programs of this country. That’s what President Trump asked me to do when he took this position. To administer the programs at CMS.

Now if we’re going to do that, we’ve got to be honest with each other. And a physician, President Trump, has to always do that, right? We’ve got to share our news, so do presidents, that folks don’t want to hear. But it’s important for our well-being. So I’m going to give you four bullet points to remember.

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Four Key Healthcare Challenges

DR. OZ: Bullet point number one. And they’re all numbered in order for a reason. Medicaid is the number one budget item for many states. And it is crowding out education and other important social programs. The states are having a big problem. And that’s with the federal government paying most of the bill.

Item number two. Health care expenditures are increasing at 2% higher than the economy is growing. And because of that, we spend more than two times per person on health care than any other country on the planet. And we’re not getting value for that.

Because number three is that we are in America experiencing an unfortunate problem. Which is medical errors are the number three cause of death. Did you know that, Mr. President? It’s surprising with that much money invested, we’re still having problems.

And number four. Our life expectancy, despite all this investment, is continuing to slip back. We’re now more than four years shorter in our life expectancy than countries that we used to be equal to.

But I am optimistic. Why? Because we control our destiny. Because at its very core, we have a generational opportunity. A unique ability to save the health care system. Because we control all the big pieces. America is too great for small dreams. So I’ve got some big ideas that I’d like to share that we’ve worked through with my staff who are cordoned off over there. And there’s a lot of us. We’ve got almost more than 6,000 people at CMS working on this. And 40,000 contractors helping. So we’ve got a lot of people.

Dr. Oz’s Strategic Priorities

DR. OZ: What are we going to do? First, we’re going to reduce chronic disease. How do you do that? 70% of the health care expenditures of this country are driven by chronic disease. And it is your patriotic duty. I’ll say it again. The patriotic duty of all Americans to take care of themselves. Because it’s important for serving the military. But it’s also important because healthy people don’t consume health care resources.

The best way to reduce drug spending is to use less drugs. Because you don’t need them because you’re healthy. And it feels a lot better as well. The President and Secretary Kennedy have been pushing the MAHA agenda. Because it makes it easier for people to do the right thing. Especially the mothers of this great land. Because they’re the ones who really get caught with this responsibility. They’re the ones that are signing for their kids. They’re the ones we want to empower. And curiosity, which is the key word here. Truly asking questions you want the answers to will allow the MAHA movement to thrive.

The next big thing we want to focus on is modernizing Medicare and Medicaid. That’s how Americans will get the care that they want, need and deserve. Need to empower patients and providers. Both the doctors and the patients both have to be equipped with better tools. And the President is showing that he actually does love and cherish Medicare. With all these executive orders like the one on transparency, sir, that really helps us by making sure people are equipped with information. So you shine a light in the dark shadows where so much of the problems happen with the health care system. And remember the most expensive care is bad quality care. That’s what we want to stamp on.

And finally we want to crush fraud, waste and abuse. Crush fraud, waste and abuse. This is stunning to me. I’ve got a message for all the bad guys from me, the Secretary and the President. We are going to stop people from stealing from our most vulnerable. From stealing with the taxpayers of America. Or honestly trying to support these programs. And we’re going to be able to do it in quite a few ways. We are coming for you.

I’ll give you a couple examples. Mr. President, these are ones that you may want to use in some of your future conversations. Almost a quarter million people, American citizens were fraudulently enrolled. Without their knowledge. In exchange programs by brokers who were unscrupulous. Stealing from the U.S. government by pretending these people were on programs they never told them about.

Tens of millions of dollars, Mr. President, are being spent on illegal immigrants receiving Medicaid in California. And they’re pushing the bill to us. Should we stop that? I think so. That will not continue.

We’re spending about a billion dollars on Medicaid programs for dual state eligible patients. Which means you live in one state but the system thinks you’re in another state. Or maybe a third state. We’re paying all three states for services you’re not getting because you don’t live in three states all at once.

And finally, and this is what really bothers me. There are states who are using Medicaid. Medicaid dollars for people who are vulnerable are being used for non-medical purposes. For example, public labor unions are getting child care through some of this money. That doesn’t make sense to me. Housekeeping. I wish I could get that for my home. There’s a big problem with student loan repayments taking place with Medicaid dollars. That’s not where it should be used. And we are paying for DEI programs.

But these are all programs, Mr. President, that we have created a war room at CMS to go after. To catch the fraud in real time before the money leaves the federal coffers. So we have the money to reinvest in health care to make it even stronger than it’s been before.

Together we’re going to make the care better. We’re going to make the outcomes improve. And we’re going to make sure that America can actually be the healthiest country that it could ever possibly be. We’ll make America healthy again. God bless you both, sir. Thank you.

Questions on Russia-Ukraine Peace Negotiations

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Any questions? Okay.

REPORTER: Mr. President, Secretary Rubio said that the U.S. will have to figure out whether a deal can be done between Russia and Ukraine in a matter of days. Or you will just move on.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yeah, very shortly.

REPORTER: How many days is that?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: No specific number of days. But quickly, we want to get it done. We’re talking about here people dying. We’re talking about over there people are dying also. Like on average 2,500 young people, soldiers. They’re not from America. They’re not from anywhere else other than Ukraine and Russia. But we want to save these lives.

So it’s 2,500 a week are being killed in battle. It’s a vicious battle with the best equipment, the best everything. And it is brutal. 2,500 young people a week. Some of them not so young actually. They’re getting older. They’re getting older by the month. But 2,500 a week and we’re going to get it stopped ideally.

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Now, if for some reason one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we’re just going to say you’re foolish, you’re fools, you’re horrible people. And we’re going to just take a pass. Hopefully, we won’t have to do that. And Marco is right in saying it. We want to see it end. Think of it. Every day, a lot of people are being killed as we talk about, you know, as they play games. So we’re not going to take that and we will see. I think we have a good chance of solving the problem, however.

REPORTER: Are you prepared to walk away completely from these efforts?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I don’t want to say that, but we want to see it end. We want to see it end. We want to see it end, yeah.

REPORTER: Is Vladimir Putin still in?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I hope not. I’m going to let you know about that soon if he is. But I hope not. He’s got a big force out there. Big force. It’s a war that should have never happened. It would have never happened if I was president. And it didn’t happen for four years. That’s a war that should have never happened.

October 7th, Israel would have never happened. Iran was broke. And now we’ll see what happens with Iran. That’s what we’re working on right now. That shouldn’t have happened. None of it. Ukraine would have never happened with Russia. October 7th would have never happened. So you wouldn’t have had all the problems in the Middle East. The Afghanistan embarrassment. Probably the most embarrassing day in the history of our country. Would have never happened. Inflation would have never happened.

President Trump Discusses Economic Progress

PRESIDENT TRUMP: By the way, prices are down. Groceries are down. Eggs, which you hit me so hard. I’ll never forget the first day. First week in office. They were screaming at me about eggs. I said, what’s going on with eggs? They were doubling and tripling. I said, I just got here. They were up like double, triple. And you couldn’t get any. They said, you won’t have eggs for Easter. Well, you can have all the eggs you want.

I’ll tell you, Brooke Rollins, Secretary of Agriculture, did a great job. And the egg prices are down 87 percent. But nobody talks about that. You can have all the eggs you want. We have too many eggs, in fact, of anything to put on the table. Prices are getting too low.

So I just want to let you know, prices are down. Gasoline yesterday in three states hit $1.98 a gallon. And it looks like it’s at a level that it hasn’t seen since my days, my four years. So it’s about two, I’d say maybe, I think we’re going to average, we’re going to be averaging $2.25 very soon.

So I just want to let you know though, because I keep hearing about prices and inflation, prices are coming down, not going up. Only the fake news says they’re going up. The only thing that’s even are interest rates. And if we had a Fed chairman that understood what he was doing, interest rates would be coming down too. He should bring them down. Yeah, please.

REPORTER: Mr. President, what do you need to see from both sides in order to keep negotiations going? What do you want to see from Russia and Ukraine?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I have to see, my whole life has been one big negotiation and I know when people are playing us and I know when they’re not. And I have to see an enthusiasm to want to end it. And I think I see that enthusiasm. I think I see it from both sides. But you’re going to know soon.

REPORTER: Do you think Russia’s playing you?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: No, nobody’s playing me. I’m trying to help. You know, this was Biden’s war. By the way, by me getting involved, you know, they’ll say, oh, it’s Trump. This is not Trump’s war. This is a war that should have never happened. Okay?

Think of it. Those cities are crushed and crashed and all those beautiful steeples, the most beautiful in the world, actually considered the most beautiful in the world. Most of them are now smashed to smithereens, as they say, and lying on the ground in a million pieces. Those towns are crushed, the whole place. It’s so horrible. And millions of people are dead, far more than you think. That’s one thing you’re going to get out of this war. You’re going to find out that your estimates are far lower than — it’s far worse than people think.

Nobody’s playing anybody. We are going to see if we can get it done. I think we have a really good chance of getting it done. And it’s coming to a head right now.

REPORTER: If you do decide to move on and take the pass, Mr. President, would you then continue to support Ukraine?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I’m not going to say that because I think we’re going to get…

REPORTER: Mr. President, here’s a group of Venezuelan men down in Texas who have been alerted that they are soon going to be deported under the Alien Enemy Act. Have you authorized that operation?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I don’t know about the group you’re talking about, but if they’re bad people, I would certainly authorize it. Yeah.

You know, I won an election in a landslide. We won all seven swing states. We won by millions of votes. We won 2,750 districts to 505 districts. 2,750 to 505. That’s why the map, when you look at it, is all red.

And one of the biggest reasons, I think the biggest single reason, actually, I’d like to say it’s because of this, because I think they’re going to come up with things that are incredible. But probably the biggest reason was because of the border and because of illegal immigration. And the people of this country want those people out because what Biden did, and I don’t know if he did it. I’m not even sure he knows what the hell he was doing. But what his people did, representing him, was allow millions and millions of people from jails, from prisons all over the world, people from mental institutions and insane asylums, gang members, drug dealers pouring into our place.

And you know what? Our people voted for me to get them out. They want them out. They want them out. And we’ve done a hell of a job. And by the way, Ecuador and various places, but El Salvador, we’ve been helped by a lot of other states where they’re helping us, actually, because you couldn’t.

Look, what this man was thinking, when they allowed open borders and people to come in, if you look at Venezuela, their crime is down by 72%. You know why? They took all their criminals off the street. They took all their prisoners from jail. They took murderers. 11,088 murderers were released into our country. Bad things are going to happen. Bad things.

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And that’s why I was elected. A judge wasn’t elected to do that. I was elected to do that. And we’re doing it in record fashion. We have the safest border, the most secure border we’ve ever had.

See the Declaration of Independence? You should all read that before you leave. That’s the real deal. You should all read it before you leave.

Yeah, sir, go ahead, please.

Discussion About Abrego Garcia and Democratic Senator’s Visit

REPORTER: Proposed rumors of Senator Van Hollen dipping what appears to be margaritas in Abrego Garcia down in El Salvador. Do you encourage other Democrats to fly out in El Salvador to meet with this illegal alien who’s an accused drug dealer?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I like this guy. See, now, this is the kind of a reporter we like. There aren’t enough of them. We’ve got to get some more of them. But no, I appreciate that question.

No, look, he’s a fake. I know him. I know them all. They’re all fake. And they have no interest in that prisoner. That prisoner’s record is unbelievably bad.

If you would go into the room, you might. If you would, Caroline, maybe go into the room and see if you can find that little slip. I wrote some things down. I don’t know why you’d want to keep them. But I just, we got a little biography of him. Not a very innocent guy.

Yeah, please.

REPORTER: Hi, friends. Hold on. In the spirit of these resignations-

PRESIDENT TRUMP: While we’re on the subject, right? So you’re talking about Abrego Garcia. Is that the one, yeah?

Is an illegal alien, MS-13 gang member and foreign terrorist. This comes out of the State Department and very legitimate sources. I mean, I assume, I’m reading, I’m just giving you what they handed to me, but this was supposed to be certified stuff.

In 2019, Garcia was issued a deportation order. Two separate judges affirmed Garcia was a member of MS-13, which is a gang that may be even worse than Tren de Aragua. It may be worse. They kill people with knives because it’s more painful. Very famous for the knifing and killing of two young 16-year-old girls walking to school one day. And they sliced them up into little pieces and killed them. That’s MS-13.

And two separate judges affirmed Garcia was a member of MS-13. When Garcia was originally arrested, he was wearing a sweatshirt with rolls of money pouring out and an MS-13 gang symbol that he was driving with two other known violent MS-13 gang members. Two of the most violent members that we know of in the MS-13 gang of thugs.

In 2022, Garcia was stopped by the Tennessee Highway Patrol and was found to be transporting seven people from Texas to Maryland. And he had no driver’s license. He was driving violently.

In 2020 and 2021, Garcia’s wife filed for a protective order from him and said he was violent and abusive and really scary, including allegations that he punched and scratched her on the eye, left her bleeding after throwing her laptop on the floor at her, ripped her shirt and ripped off her shorts. He then grabbed her arm, leaving very severe marks.

Garcia’s wife also wrote in court, at this point, I am afraid to be close to him. I just don’t want to be close. I have multiple photos and videos, how violent he can be and all of the bruises that he’s left on me. She just didn’t want to, couldn’t get anywhere near him.

This is the man that the Democrats are wanting us to fly back from El Salvador to be a happily ensconced member of the USA family. Isn’t it a shame?

And by the way, I’ve been hit pretty hard by fake shows, fake news, MSDNC in particular, where they talk about how evil I am, that this man would be thrown out of our country. This man is a, according to certified statements that we get, is a very violent person. And they want this man to be brought back into our country where he can be free and to stay as a happily, you know, happily, they call him the Maryland man. He’s a Maryland father. No, this is a violent person.

Who they don’t talk about is that wonderful angel mom who lost her daughter, who had five beautiful children and she was killed violently, killed violently. And, you know, she spoke and she spoke unbelievably. I saw it and the fake news didn’t pick it up. She spoke, she was in tears. She’s devastated. Her life is, you know, essentially, she’s told me her life is like over. But there was like, I think, no stories. Isn’t that true? No stories, zero stories. It was the most emotional thing. Everybody that watched it, they couldn’t believe it. The fake news refused to put it up.

So it’s very sad. And yet they talk about this guy like he’s an angel. See the angel up there? They think he’s like that. Like a little angel. You know, it has no impact. Look at him. No impact. Like unbalanced.

Trump Addresses Iran’s Nuclear Program

REPORTER: Would you be open to letting Iran keep some kind of civil nuclear program? Or would the entire program need to be disbanded?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: No impact whatsoever. I’m for stopping Iran very simply from having a nuclear weapon. They can’t have a nuclear weapon. I want Iran to be great and prosperous and terrific.

I stopped them once they were broke and they didn’t have any money for Hamas. They didn’t have any money for Hezbollah. There wouldn’t have been an October 7th disaster. They were broke. They had no money. And they weren’t spending it to terrorist organizations because they had none.

When Biden came in, he took all the sanctions off. China wasn’t allowed to buy. I said, you buy, if you buy, because they’re the bigger customer. I said, you buy one barrel of oil. Just one barrel of oil from Iran and you can’t do business in the United States. And by the way, we have nice conversations going with China just to intercede, you know. It’s like really very good.

But with Iran, they can’t have a nuclear weapon. And if they have a nuclear weapon, you’ll all be very unhappy. You’ll all be very unhappy because your life will be in great danger.