Ben Carson announced on X that he will be meeting with President-elect Donald Trump, but he will not be serving as surgeon general in the next administration.
“I am excited to speak with President Trump about how I will continue to advance the America First agenda, and I am meeting with him in the near future,” Carson wrote on Sunday.
“However, contrary to reports, I will not be serving as the Surgeon General,” he added.
Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, was the secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) from 2017 to 2021 during Trump’s first term as president, per a report on Fox News.
Carson, 73, has been a staunch Trump supporter and offered his congratulations to the president-elect with a post on X.
“Congratulations to my good friend and the next President of the United States, @realdonaldtrump!!” Carson wrote. “As I said earlier today, God is not done with our country. Let’s get to work.”
The U.S. surgeon general serves as the head of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. The position, which is not a Cabinet-level post, is within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Trump still has yet to nominate secretary of transportation, secretary of commerce and secretary of the treasury, HUD secretary, secretary of agriculture and secretary of education.
According to a recent report in the New York Post, Carson had been interested in serving as Health and Human Services secretary, but that position was ultimately given to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
