A new fissure has emerged among Republicans following the GOP's crushing defeat in the 2026 midterm elections, with a former Health and Human Services (HHS) adviser accusing former White House chief of staff Susie Wiles of catering to lobbyists. Calley Means, a former senior White House and HHS adviser, alleged on Friday's episode of The Joe Rogan Experience that Wiles and other aides pressed HHS and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to create a pathway for fruit-flavored vapes following the lobbying of tobacco interests connected to the firm Ballard Partners. Means, who helped advance the "Make America Healthy Again" movement, said on the popular podcast: "The simple reality in why I left is that there is a very concentrated group of people in the Trump administration that are antagonistic to what people voted for." Documentary evidence of Means' allegations has not been provided, and named parties, including Wiles, deny his account of events.
During the first half of the second Trump administration, Means helped lead HHS's efforts to revise the country's dietary guidelines and remove soda and candy from SNAP benefits. Upon his resignation in October, Means said he was leaving with "tremendous respect for President Trump and [Health Secretary] Robert F. Kennedy Jr." On the podcast, Means urged the president to "clear his house." He also told host Joe Rogan, a prominent ally of President Donald Trump, that "it is absolutely true that his administration has been infiltrated by the very people that he energized voters to say he would get out of D.C." Means' allegations display a growing tension between the MAHA movement and the Trump administration more broadly.
Whether it's pesticide regulation or the new surgeon general nomination, MAHA-aligned lawmakers and supporters have been outraged by some of the administration's policymaking. In a statement to Newsweek, White House spokesperson Allison Schuster said MAHA had "found a champion in President Trump," adding: "The Administration has already secured extensive victories for the MAHA Agenda, including overhauling the dietary guidelines for Americans, axing artificial ingredients in our food supply, and investing in regenerative farming. President Trump and Secretary Kennedy continue to work around the clock to deliver more wins for the American people." Newsweek has contacted Wiles, Means and Ballard Partners for comment outside regular working hours.
Means made public allegations against Wiles and other officials first on The Joe Rogan Experience and later in an interview with CBS News, and he has shared multiple posts on social media. Since those interviews aired, he has requested that records on Wiles' influence on health policy be made public. "In light of suggestions that Susie Wiles and James Blair may pursue legal action over my Joe Rogan interview, I am publicly requesting that she, Ballard Partners, Continental Strategy, and other relevant parties immediately preserve all potentially relevant records and communications," Means wrote on X on Sunday.
Among his allegations is that Wiles withheld support from efforts to make children's diets healthier, and that her team demanded more approvals of flavored e-cigarettes. Wiles, the first woman to serve as White House chief of staff, left the role in a major shake-up of the Trump administration. She has become a focal point amid the escalating blame game among Republicans following wide-ranging losses in the midterm elections.
Trump announced her departure on Friday, confirming that the top White House aide Stephen Miller would replace her. Means told CBS News' Face the Nation, in an interview that aired on Sunday night, "Underneath Trump's nose, in many cases, you had a group of former lobbyists, catering to the vaping industry, catering to the ultra-processed food industry, catering to the pharmaceutical industry, catering to the pesticide industry and doing their bidding with an excuse that we need their money for the midterms and really need to actually go against what voters said." He told Rogan that Wiles said many times: "We need money for the midterms, Calley. We need money for the midterms." Means' allegations have centered on issues surrounding vapes and glyphosate.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
