The former neurosurgeon-turned-secretary of housing and urban development, Ben Carson, has joined the Trump administration as a national adviser for nutrition, health and housing for the Department of Agriculture.
Carson, who served as housing secretary during President Donald Trump’s first administration, will serve as the “chief spokesperson” for all things nutrition, rural health care and housing, according to a Department of Homeland Security press release.
“There’s no greater American who has lived the American dream in such a remarkable way than Ben Carson,” USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said to reporters after Carson’s swearing-in ceremony.
Earlier this week Trump announced he would award Carson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and also selected him to serve as vice chair of his presidential commission on religious liberty.
Carson didn’t directly comment on any ongoing policy in the 13-minute discussion with reporters but said it was vital for the country to get back to its “Christian values.”
.@SecRollins on Dr. Ben Carson (@RealBenCarson): "Dr. Carson's joining this administration, President Trump's vision on making America healthy again, we just swore in a couple hours ago, Dr. Carson's going to be our National Nutrition Adviser." pic.twitter.com/hQQK6vB0eQ
— CSPAN (@cspan) September 24, 2025
“We are not just physical aspects, we have the mental aspect and the spiritual aspect and that makes us different, and we need to recognize that in all of our policies,” Carson told reporters. “Remember that America didn’t become great by accident but because of the policies and their way of Christian values that we live by. And look what’s happened as we begin to throw those things away.”
During his time at HUD, Carson led the agency in rolling back fair housing laws and removing protections for transgender people living in public housing. He was also criticized for appointing family members to senior positions that oversaw private investments.
Carson, 74, ran unsuccessfully against Trump in the 2016 election but has been a close ally since. Before joining public office he served as Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center for more than 30 years, after he made his name in 1987 as the first surgeon to successfully separate twins conjoined at the back of the head in.