Trump Insists, ‘I Know Nothing About’ Report Saying He’s Going To Fire FDA Chief

Appearing before reporters on Friday evening at the White House, President Donald Trump insisted, “I know nothing” about The Wall Street Journal‘s report that he’d signed off on a plan to fire FDA Commissioner Marty Makary.

The WSJ’s piece, published on Friday, has since been corroborated by plenty of other outlets and their respective sources — The Washington Post, Politico, NBC News, CNN, The New York Times, and more.

Yet while answering an unnamed reporter who asked “what’s going on with Marty Makary,” Trump said, “Nothing much. He’s doing fine.”

“Are you going to fire him?” the reporter followed up.

“Uh, I’ve been reading about it, but I know nothing about it,” the president said.

Moments later, another reporter asked about a “new FDA commissioner,” to which Trump responded, “Uh, FDA commissioner?”

“Are you bringing someone new in to lead the FDA?” she clarified.

“No, nope,” said Trump, before moving on to the next question.

According to the Journal’s Friday exclusive, people “familiar with the matter” said, “Top administration officials have become increasingly convinced Makary has to go because, in addition to months of turmoil, complaints from some in the pharmaceutical industry have continued to mount.”

These sources added, “Makary has battled with others in the health department on a range of policy issues,” and “has increasingly relied on a small inner circle of advisers as he searched for ‘wins’ he could tout to the White House and the press.”

The reported decision comes just days after the Journal revealed on Tuesday that Makary was already on “thin ice” inside the administration following a clash with Trump over flavored vaping products. According to reporters Liz Essley Whyte and Natalie Andrews, the president “upbraided” Makary last weekend for “not moving quickly enough to approve flavored vapes and nicotine products.”

Watch the full clip above via NewsNation.

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