“He’s going to help make America healthy again. … He wants to do some things, and we’re going to let him get to it,” Mr Trump said in his victory speech.
A long-time vaccine sceptic, Mr Kennedy Jr is an attorney known for filing lawsuits against major pesticide and pharmaceutical companies and has called for stricter regulations around the ingredients in foods.
Under his new brief, he will be in command of a sprawling agency that employs more than 80,000 staff and oversees everything from drug, vaccine and food safety to medical research and the social safety net programs Medicare and Medicaid.
Announcing the appointment on Truth Social, Mr Trump said: “For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to public health.”
He added: “Mr Kennedy will restore these agencies to the traditions of gold standard scientific research, and beacons of transparency, to end the chronic disease epidemic, and to make America great and healthy again.”
Questions over vaccines
The appointment throws up questions about the future of American policy on key aspects of public health, particularly with regards to vaccines.
Mr Kennedy, who is the nephew of John F. Kennedy has repeatedly shared misinformation on the subject. He once said “there’s no vaccine that is safe and effective” and has pushed the discredited theory that childhood vaccines cause autism.
During the pandemic, he urged people to “resist” guidelines on when children should be vaccinated.
He has also pledged to strip fluoride from drinking water. The chemical has been added to water to improve dental health for decades, but Mr Kennedy has in recent weeks claimed it is causing arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease.
A US government report published earlier this year suggested consuming fluoride in large quantities is linked to lower IQ. Many European countries have also cut back on artificially increasing fluoride levels.
As part of his planned crackdown on processed food, Mr Kennedy has voiced frustration about the amount of federal food assistance for low-income Americans that goes towards sugary drinks and processed food.
The new health secretary has even criticised the diet of the president-elect in recent days, describing his preference for fast-food and fizzy drinks as “poison”.