US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Marty Makary is leaving his post, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday.
Makary, in the role for just over a year, had faced criticism both from inside and outside the Trump administration, including for his resistance to authorising flavoured vapes and to tightening restrictions on abortion pills.
"He was having some difficulties," Trump told media at the White House, adding that the role would be filled by a deputy until a permanent replacement is found.
The British-American surgeon is the latest top health official to be ousted under Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr.
Earlier this year, HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O'Neill left his post. The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Susan Monarez, left the agency last year.
Makary, a former surgeon at the prestigious Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University, rose to prominence as an advocate for the Make America Healthy Again movement.
As he left the White House on Tuesday for a state visit to China, Trump confirmed Makary's exit while taking questions from reporters.
He praised him as "a great doctor" and "a friend".
"He's going to go on and he's going to do well," said the president, without specifying whether Makary was fired or resigned.
In a later post on social media, Trump thanked Makary, writing that he had "done a great job at the FDA" and that "so much was accomplished under his leadership".
The president announced that Kyle Diamantas, a deputy commissioner at the FDA, would take over in an acting position.
In a post on social media, Kennedy said Makary had taken on "entrenched interests, challenged the status quo, and never lost sight of the American people we serve".
"You pushed forward critical reforms and helped advance our mission to Make America Healthy Again," he said.
In his role as commissioner, which includes assuring the safety and efficacy of prescription drugs and regulating tobacco products, Makary reportedly sparked internal tension when he pushed back against a White House plan to authorise more flavoured vapes.
Makary had blocked FDA approval of vape fruit flavours made by a US company, even after scientists at his agency had greenlit the products, the Wall Street Journal reported last month.
Health advocates have long argued that fruit-flavoured vapes are dangerous because they appeal to children, but Trump has repeatedly said he would get such products approved.
The FDA announced in early May that it was authorising the first fruit-flavored e-cigarette products – mango and blueberry, as well as menthol vapes – produced by Los Angeles-based company Glas.
Makary had also faced criticism over the FDA's recent approval of a generic version of the abortion pill mifepristone, a move that will make the drug cheaper and more accessible.
An anti-abortion nonprofit, Susan B Anthony Pro-Life America, had called for Makary to be fired over the drug's approval.
He had also drawn the ire of pharmaceutical companies after a wave of drug rejections, particularly for rare disease treatments and cancer therapies.
As president-elect, Trump picked Makary to lead the FDA in his second term, and he was confirmed in March 2025.
Makary gained prominence during the Covid-19 pandemic for his scepticism of the federal government's policies, including the use of vaccines.
He was born in Liverpool, England, before moving with his family as a child to the US, where he was raised in Baltimore, Maryland.
His exit follows other high-profile Trump administration departures in recent months, including that of US Navy Secretary John Phelan, US Attorney General Pam Bondi and homeland security chief Kristi Noem.
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