Daily Caller News Foundation

White House Senior Advisor Calley Means claimed Thursday that President Donald Trump’s recent executive orderaiming to boost the domestic production of glyphosate was “disappointing.”

Trump signed an executive order on Feb. 18 which invokes the Defense Production Act to bolster the production of elemental phosphorus and glyphosate-based herbicides in the U.S., drawing criticism from some health advocates, especially some supporters of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement. Means said during a Thursday speech at MAHA Action’s Eat Real Food Rally in Austin, Texas that he thought the order was “extremely disappointing.”

“There’s going to be ups and downs, and there is zero question that this week was a down,” Means said during the speech. “I’m not going to gaslight or sugarcoat it. This glyphosate thing was extremely disappointing.”

Means also claimed during his speech that Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was similarly “disappointed” about the recent executive order.

“Bobby is disappointed,” Means added. “And there’s no message from me, the White House, or Bobby that you should not be letting your anger out. But I’ll tell you, Bobby got on the phone. He’s in charge of the NIH. He called Jay Bhattacharya, he’s going to call him every day. We are going to research a bridge off these toxic chemicals that our farmers are unfortunately dependent on … Bobby’s been calling the top venture capitalists in the world. We are going to get a bridge off these chemicals.”

The White House and HHS each did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

Glyphosate is a widely used herbicide that can be used to kill certain weeds and grasses, and it has been registered as a pesticide in the U.S. since 1974, per the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Before becoming Trump’s HHS Secretary, Kennedy had criticized the use of glyphosate, alleging in a June 2024 social media post that it is “one of the likely culprits in America’s chronic disease epidemic.”

Advertisement

Means has served as a senior advisor for the White House since November 2025, where he focuses on “healthcare and nutrition policy,” according to his LinkedIn profile. His sister, Casey Means, is also a key figure in the MAHA movement and is Trump’s nominee for U.S. surgeon general.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with US, please contact [email protected].