RFK Jr. admits he can't get Trump to eat healthy during Nashville stop
- - RFK Jr. admits he can't get Trump to eat healthy during Nashville stop
Vivian Jones, Nashville TennesseanFebruary 6, 2026 at 3:42 AM
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Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. admitted that he has not been able to convince President Donald Trump to personally adopt his Make America Healthy Again agenda by eschewing products like soda and fast food ā which his administration is now warning Americans to avoid consuming.
See Trump's love for fast food starting with tables of it for the the college football playoff champion Clemson Tigers in the State Dining Room of the White House on Jan. 14, 2019.
" style=padding-bottom:56%>RFK Jr. appeared on the āKatie Miller Podcastā on Jan. 13, 2026. When asked which member of the administration has the healthiest diet and fitness routine, he mentioned Shawn Duffy and Pete Hegseth. When asked who had the most "unhinged" diet, Kennedy answered, "The president,ā citing Trumpās love of McDonaldās, candy, and constant Diet Coke. See Trump's love for fast food starting with tables of it for the the college football playoff champion Clemson Tigers in the State Dining Room of the White House on Jan. 14, 2019.
" data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/iuD_dZJ9m0t_wsmHNyS_fA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD05MDY-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/3256b39d4d392bad0d7b4c0e0e3e91b8 class=caas-img data-headline="From McDonald's to Diet Coke see Trump's love of fast food" data-caption="
RFK Jr. appeared on the āKatie Miller Podcastā on Jan. 13, 2026. When asked which member of the administration has the healthiest diet and fitness routine, he mentioned Shawn Duffy and Pete Hegseth. When asked who had the most "unhinged" diet, Kennedy answered, "The president,ā citing Trumpās love of McDonaldās, candy, and constant Diet Coke. See Trump's love for fast food starting with tables of it for the the college football playoff champion Clemson Tigers in the State Dining Room of the White House on Jan. 14, 2019.
">RFK Jr. appeared on the āKatie Miller Podcastā on Jan. 13, 2026. When asked which member of the administration has the healthiest diet and fitness routine, he mentioned Shawn Duffy and Pete Hegseth. When asked who had the most "unhinged" diet, Kennedy answered, "The president,ā citing Trumpās love of McDonaldās, candy, and constant Diet Coke. See Trump's love for fast food starting with tables of it for the the college football playoff champion Clemson Tigers in the State Dining Room of the White House on Jan. 14, 2019.
" src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/iuD_dZJ9m0t_wsmHNyS_fA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD05MDY-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/3256b39d4d392bad0d7b4c0e0e3e91b8 class=caas-img>
1 / 16From McDonald's to Diet Coke see Trump's love of fast food
RFK Jr. appeared on the āKatie Miller Podcastā on Jan. 13, 2026. When asked which member of the administration has the healthiest diet and fitness routine, he mentioned Shawn Duffy and Pete Hegseth. When asked who had the most "unhinged" diet, Kennedy answered, "The president,ā citing Trumpās love of McDonaldās, candy, and constant Diet Coke. See Trump's love for fast food starting with tables of it for the the college football playoff champion Clemson Tigers in the State Dining Room of the White House on Jan. 14, 2019.
Kennedy, 72, spoke at the Tennessee Capitol on Feb. 4 during a stop on his "Take Back Your Health" tour. The tour is aimed at making Americans aware of the long-term health consequences of junk food and raising awareness about the new federal dietary guidelines that encourage people to "Eat Real Food."
"If you want to drink a Coke or eat a Krispy Kreme doughnut, this is America, you ought to be able to do that, but we're going to tell you about the cost," Kennedy said. "It may seem cheap at the grocery store, but it's not in the long run."
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at the Tennessee State Capitol building during a stop for the āTake Back Your Health Tourā in Nashville on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026.
Trump is known to be an avid consumer of McDonald's and drinker of Diet Coke, reportedly chugging up to 12 cans per day. On the campaign trail in 2024, Trump ate a Filet-O-Fish, a Quarter Pounder, a Big Mac and fries, according to RNC Chair Joe Gruters, and he remains a devoted patron of the menu.
Kennedy referred to "refined carbohydrates and ultra-processed foods" such as the fast food items the president regularly eats as "just poison."
.@Vivian_E_Jones: "The president often drinks, is known for his Coke consumption and eating McDonald's often. Have you shared your concerns about the cost of his eating habits?"HHS @SecKennedy: "To no avail." pic.twitter.com/dRZPG8Zipi
ā CSPAN (@cspan) February 4, 2026
He admitted Feb. 4 that the message of the MAHA movement had not taken hold in the Oval Office.
Asked whether he'd shared his concerns about the "cost" of Trump's eating habits with the 79-year-old president, Kennedy replied, "To no avail," walking away from the podium as the room broke out into laughter.
'We are doing something horrible to our children'
Kennedy highlighted the new federal dietary guidelines illustrated in an inverted food pyramid, which was displayed on a tripod alongside his podium with the message "Eat Real Food."
"The things you eat are driving mental illness in this country," Kennedy said.
Kennedy outlined a spike in youth diabetes diagnoses to 38% of teenagers who are diabetic or pre-diabetic. He also cited an epidemiological study that noted a sharp increase in autism diagnoses from less than 1 per 10,000 in the 1970s to the current 1 in 31.
"We are doing something horrible to our children. And nobody has been asking why this is happening," Kennedy said.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at the Tennessee State Capitol building while on the āTake Back Your Health Tourā in Nashville on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026.
High rates of chronic diseases in youth are expensive for the country, Kennedy argued, noting that $4.3 trillion is spent each year on chronic disease treatment, and he framed it as a matter of national security, as 77% of youth could not qualify for military service.
Tennessee's governor, Bill Lee, thanked Kennedy for his leadership in "asking the real questions and "challenging the status quo."
"We all have known intuitively over the last 10, 20, 30 years that something has changed in this country," Lee said. "When you think about cases of autism, a number that is really a crisis, or obesity or diabetes. Why [do] we have allergies for children ā nut allergies ā that seemed to certainly not exist to the levels they did decades ago? Cancer diagnoses that are really different than they have been in decades? Something has changed in our country."
During the event, Lee sat near the display that read "Eat Real Food." The governor's office recently declined to apply for $84 million in federal funding to feed low-income children who typically rely on school nutrition programs over the summer, instead opting to run a smaller-scale program at the state level that will reach fewer than 3% of the children that the federal program would.
Lee's budget includes $5 million for the state's summer nutrition program, a $2 million increase from last year's program, which reached 18,000 children.
"This approach stewards taxpayer dollars responsibly, while ensuring Tennesseeās most vulnerable children have access to nutritious food options," the governor's spokesperson, Elizabeth Johnson, told The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network. "The Summer EBT program was established in the pandemic era to supplement existing food assistance programs and does not target Tennesseeās most vulnerable children."
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at the Tennessee State Capitol building while on the āTake Back Your Health Tourā in Nashville on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026.
More: Lee opts out of $84M federal summer feeding program for needy children
Make Tennessee Healthy Again?
Lee and Republican lawmakers who hosted the event with Kennedy touted the state's recent efforts to join in Trump's Make America Healthy Again agenda.
Kennedy's HHS department has recently approved an application from Tennessee to allow the state to cut Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funding for candy and soda, barring people on food stamps from purchasing those products.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. leaves after speaking at the Tennessee State Capitol building during a stop for the "Take Back Your Health Tour" in Nashville on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026.
Lee is now pushing for lawmakers to pass reforms to ease regulations on health care providers' scope of practice and certificate of need laws ā federal strings attached to a $1 billion grant for rural health care.
"We want Tennesseans to have greater access to health care in their communities, and that's part of what this rural health care transformation fund has done," Lee said.
Republicans in Tennessee have declined to expand Medicaid, which would have extended coverage to an estimated 250,000 Tennesseans, according to an analysis by the Sycamore Institute. Instead, lawmakers opted to effectively bar Medicaid expansion by restructuring the state's federal Medicaid funding into a block grant system.
Republicans in the state's congressional delegation recently voted to block the extension of marketplace health insurance tax credits, which ended at the end of last year. Tennessee saw an 11.4% drop in marketplace enrollment when tax credits expired, totalling 74,000 people who no longer have health coverage.
Lee's office expressed optimism that a solution for uninsured Tennesseans is coming.
"President Trump has demonstrated a clear commitment to ensuring that every Tennessean can thrive, and his administration is working with Congress on a solution that will address the benefits cliff created by the Biden Administrationās pandemic-era subsidy," Johnson said.
Rep. Susan Lynn R- Mount Juliet speaks to members of the press after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke at the Tennessee State Capitol building during a stop for the āTake Back Your Health Tourā in Nashville on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. Rep. Lynn said she spoke to HHS Secretary Kennedy about ADHD.
After the speech, GOP state Rep. Susan Lynn credited a change in diet with resolving her young son's ADHD diagnosis in the 1980s.
"We found the Feingold Elimination Diet, and in three days, I had a normal little boy," Lynn told reporters. "The diet was avoiding artificial colors, flavors and preservatives as well as high fructose corn syrup. ... We have to get these chemicals out of our foods. It is hurting our children. It is hurting adults. It's making people sick, and it's not just chronic illnesses, but also depression and things like that."
Rep. Justin Jones D- Nashville speaks to members of the press after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke at the Tennessee State Capitol building during a stop for the āTake Back Your Health Tourā in Nashville on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. Rep. Jones attended the event and later asked HHS Secretary Kennedy about the āround up billā.
State Rep. Justin Jones, of Nashville, was the only Democrat to attend the event.
Kennedy said he opposes a state measure that would give chemical corporations and pesticide corporations immunity from lawsuits.
"I think there's a lot of misinformation shared relating diet to things like bipolar disorder and autism," Jones said. "I wanted to come with an open mind. ... I'm listening to the public health professionals in my district who are very concerned with what's happening from this administration and being led by people who have no scientific background and no background in public health ā and who are just governing according to conspiracy theories. And that's what we heard today."
Vivian Jones covers state government and politics for The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at [emailĀ protected].
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: RFK Jr. can't get Trump to stop eating junk food
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