Vice President JD Vance did a sit-down interview at the first annual Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Summit in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.
MAHA™ Summit Unites Leaders Across Government, Industry, and Innovation to Advance America’s Health Revolution pic.twitter.com/BHgPtkUUof
— MAHA Action (@MAHA_Action) November 12, 2025
This is an unprecedented event with the heads of the department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), corporate medicine and corporate food partnering with holistic health and leaders in the MAHA movement to hear innovations, share ideas, and set new goals on how to advance the MAHA agenda. But, save for a write-up in The Hill, the summit is getting very little press.
Top Trump administration officials including Vice President JD Vance and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are slated to speak alongside biotech executives and influencers at an all-day “Make America Healthy Again” summit on Wednesday that has not been publicly disclosed.
According to an agenda seen by The Hill, the event will feature many of the country’s leading health officials, including: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary, National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya, acting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director and HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill, Medicare Director Chris Klomp, and White House AI czar David Sacks.
The officials will be speaking with MAHA influencers and industry leaders from companies such as Regeneron, CRISPR Therapeutics, Walmart, Google and Neuralink.
Let's hope that changes. VP Vance's 22-minute sit-down with HHS Secretary Kennedy is not only newsworthy but also revelatory and rich with insight on the direction of MAHA and the health policies that will further its aims.
Vance praised Secretary Kennedy and his entire HHS team for being "willing to ask questions that people in government haven't been asking in a long time."
WATCH:
.@VP: "Your team is willing to ask questions that people in government haven't been asking in a really long time, and if you think about how unhealthy the American population has gotten... you're not going to fix that problem unless you have people... asking different questions… pic.twitter.com/zN0uMALJEl
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) November 12, 2025
Vance then talked about how MAHA is changing the debate about health, literally breaking through the Overton window to allow a flood of ideas and solutions that, while outside of the accepted paradigms, are transforming health outcomes and well worth the exploration, because what has been generally accepted as "the science" has also failed Americans for decades.
DIVE DEEPER: MAHA Level Achieved: Trump Makes a Huge Announcement on His Plan to Combat and Treat Autism
WATCH:
.@VP's MIC DROP MOMENT at the MAHA summit 👏
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) November 12, 2025
"There’s this attack where people will say, 'well, you know, that conclusion is not supported by the science'..
..Science, as practiced in its best form, is if you disagree with it, then you ought to criticize it & argue against it,… pic.twitter.com/s76JQeX2wq
Vance affirmed that the only way to change this country is to challenge the established orthodoxy. "You're not going to solve America's problems with McKinsey consultants who say everything the 'right' way all the time," he said.
WATCH:
.@VP at the MAHA Summit: "There is no way that this country is going to advance unless we're comfortable with people who are willing to challenge orthodoxy... you're not going to solve America's problems with McKinsey consultants who say everything the 'right' way all the time." pic.twitter.com/dL4brnp2fu
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) November 12, 2025
Vance also revealed why the administration sought partnerships with pharmaceutical companies: it is because Democrats had no stomach to work on legislation to try and combat high drug prices. So, the administration once again broke the Overton window to find solutions.
SEE ALSO: Trump Announces Weight-Loss Drug Deal With Pharma in WH Event Marked by Scary Medical Issue
WATCH:
.@VP: @POTUS is lowering prescription drug costs through things like Most Favored Nation pricing — and he's doing it by working with the industry since Democrats haven't been willing to partner with us to lower prices. pic.twitter.com/7Qm1kdsY0D
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) November 12, 2025
One of the hallmarks of Vance's life is that his is a true American story. His rise from poverty in Appalachia, to the military, Yale, a Silicon Valley career, then as a senator, and now to the White House as VP. Vance talked about the unique perspective it gave him and how issues such as food and health are particularly pressing when you live in insecurity, without necessary resources, and without proper healthcare.
WATCH:
.@VP: "You know what really pisses people off? When they realize that their loved ones are dying much sooner than everybody else."
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) November 12, 2025
"If any place in this country deserves to not be left behind, it's Appalachia." pic.twitter.com/Z8AA89NiUL
The biggest reveal was Vance's viewpoint on why he makes an effective VP. What he described are also the reasons he will make a fabulous 2028 contender for president.
Kennedy asked Vance about his job, prefacing it with "You know, the job of the vice president has been called the worst job in the country." Kennedy talked about how VPs have felt ignored or sidelined by their president, with some rare exceptions.
KENNEDY: Well, you had a vice president like Dick Cheney, who seemed to be actually running the country. And you had these relationships...
[Audience breaks into laughter]
VANCE: Not very well as it turns out.
KENNEDY (cont'd) ...Al Gore and Bill Clinton and Mondale and Carter who had close personal friendships. You have an amazing job because you have a president who clearly puts tremendous faith in you, he relies on you, he's given you an extraordinary retinue of responsibilities. Talk a little bit about how your relationship with the president has evolved.
VANCE: Yeah, That's a great question...
KENNEDY: It's clear to all of us in the cabinet, how much affection that he has for you, and how much he relies on your wisdom.
VANCE: It's interesting, you're exactly right. The job of the vice president is incredibly contingent on the president that you're serving under. And you can have a president who effectively just passes off big swaths of responsibility. You can have a president who delegates, you can have a president who has no trust in their vice president: <*clears throat*> Kamala Harris [audience laughs], so, it doesn't go very well for that particular vice president.
But, I think there are two ways that I try to think of my job with the President of the United States. Number one, he requires honest counsel. In other words, if I have an opinion about something, whether I agree or disagree with the administrative position, it's really, really important that I talk to the president about it. He doesn't want Yes men, and I think that's one of the reasons why you guys have a great relationship because you're always thinking about how can I actually give the president the best counsel.
But then, the second thing is, when the president makes a decision, it's your job to execute. It's not to run to the papers and say, "Well, actually, I disagreed with this decision," or run to the Congress and badmouth the administration, it's to execute.
And I think the reason why the president has trust in me, Is because, yes, I absolutely tell the president what I think about a given issue. But I also recognize, I'm the vice president, he's the president, and when the President of the United States makes the decision, it's time to go and get it done. In part because I get things done. Right? Sometimes Congress doesn't cooperate, sometimes the private sector doesn't cooperate, Like, I'm not saying any of us have a batting average of 1000.
But what I think all of us who have earned the president's trust do, is that when the administration makes a decision, when he makes a decision, we actually go out and get it done. And that's why this job has been so empowering for me is that the president trusts me, he knows I'm going to give him honest counsel, he knows that if he asks me to get something done, I'm going to try my best to actually go and do it. And that's why whe have a good partnership, I think that's why the administration has been so effective this time around, is because there's a lot of people with a very wide diversity of opinions, but we get out there and we try to do the best job for the American people and the President of the United States. And because of that, there's a lot of trust and a lot of affection in the cabinet.
I mean, you've seen this, I've seen this. But when we're sitting in there, and the cameras are off, and we're just talking about an issue, there is a deep level of affection and trust between all the senior members of the team. I don't know how it's possible to do this job without it, but I know it's why we've been so successful in the past 10 months.
Mic drop. Kennedy concluded the interview with a lightning round of questions, and Vance's responses were interesting and full of his characteristic wit.
You can view the full interview between HHS Secretary Kennedy and VP Vance here.
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