With the upheaval and rapid changes of Trump’s second term, it’s more important than ever to understand not just the man at the top, but also the team shaping his administration. Beyond Trump himself, there are lesser-known figures at the table whose decisions carry significant weight. 

That’s why The AAPI Angle is launching Trailblazers and Trump—a series spotlighting Asian American leaders in his cabinet, their paths to power, and the influence they wield today, while keeping it bite-sized and using videos so you don’t have to be disrupted and bored by jargon. 

Introduction

If White House communications director Steven Cheung and director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard represent contrasts, and the former DOGE co-founder Vivek Ramaswamy represents loyalty to one’s beliefs, then current Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrator Mehmet Oz represents a steady balance between the two values, all mixed in with pride of his Turkish immigrant roots.

“My parents came [from Turkïye] to America to find a better life, and they did,” said Oz as his opening line when he ran for the U.S. Senate in 2022. 

Source: ConservativeCornerEntertainment2. 

Of course, not all Turks are steadfast in their support of the doctor. In an AAPI Angle interview, one Turkish-American, who will go by the name of Josh for anonymity, expressed suspicion over Oz’s relationship with his parent country. 

“He isn’t very proud of his Turkish heritage, I believe,” said Josh. “No one talks about him or knows him in Turkïye, and I believe that he’s a showman.”

Despite being a lifelong Republican, Oz, for one, has shifted in his brand of conservatism. He has gone from describing himself as a “moderate” whose role models include progressive president Theodore Roosevelt, whom Oz called an “ideal Republican,” to adopting more right-wing populist beliefs, such as expressing staunch opposition to abortion, which he labeled as “murder” at any stage.

Likewise, Oz’s path to working at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has taken many twists and turns, many of which are emblematic of a unique immigrant experience in the United States. Therefore, let us dive into the Muslim’s career in medical services, television, and finally politics.

Background

Oz, the son of two first-generation Turkish immigrants – a top medical surgeon father and a wealthy secular Muslim mother – had an unorthodox childhood, to say the least. Although he was born in Ohio, Oz had a strong connection to his homeland during his childhood. “My memories of Turkïye are of a beautiful, vibrant country where my parents live—we return to visit each year,” quoted Oz when asked about his relationship to the nation. 

Oz, center, in Istanbul, Turkïye with family members. Source: Facebook

However, Mehmet Oz was also seeking to make a name for himself in the United States. He grew up in Wilmington, Delaware, and attended the private Tower Hill School, an experience he described as allowing him to “[meet] kids [he] normally wouldn’t interact with [as a Turkish immigrant].”

After graduating from Tower Hill School, Oz attended Harvard University, where he received an undergraduate degree in biology in 1982 and was a member of both the school’s football and water polo teams. 

Afterwards, Oz continued his interest in medical studies by obtaining a Doctor of Medicine and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Medicine and Wharton School. Then, he began his descent into the medical world.

Into the Medical World

Having begun post-graduate training at the Presbyterian Hospital in New York City, Oz’s love for media attention first became apparent during coverage of his medical services to several famous figures, including the brother of New York Yankees manager Joe Torre, Frank Torre. However, this often irritated many of his associates, including Oz’s employer, surgeon Eric Rose.

“[I often told Oz,] before you’re going out there to major media, we need to look at what we’re doing here. Stop the media circus,” said Rose. Oz’s general embracing of fame over professionality often resulted in what Rose described as him “always acting” and patients and work “[becoming] secondary to his rise to the top.”

Nonetheless, Rose also viewed Dr. Oz as highly talented, even calling the fellow surgeon “intellectually unbelievably gifted.” However, the rift between Oz and his coworkers continued to intensify, culminating in Rose’s decision to shut down their medical center in 2000.

Dr. Oz, left, with Jimmy Kimmel, right, doing a skit on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Source: New York Post

Still, such disagreements and conflicts did not dissuade the surgeon from continuing his foray into the media. In 2003, Oz began his television career in earnest with the launch of his series Second Opinion with Dr. Oz, which aired on the Discovery Channel. 

Through Second Opinion, Oz also made a notable connection: media star Oprah Winfrey, who appeared as an interviewee for one episode. 

Dr. Oz on the Oprah Winfrey Show as a guest. Source: The New York Times

Though the series only ran for five episodes, Oz and Winfrey cultivated a professional relationship that culminated in Oz regularly appearing on The Oprah Winfrey Show for five seasons, making a total of over sixty appearances starting in 2004. Winfrey also offered to produce a syndicated series hosted by Oz five years later, which ultimately led to the creation of The Dr. Oz Show in 2009.

An episode of Second Opinion, featuring the claimed benefits of alternative medicine. The National Library of Medicine has called such treatments “misleading.” Source: Discovery Channel

Political Outsider

This dual interest in fame and fiery advocacy for causes Oz believed in brought him into the world of politics soon afterwards. 

While first only a handsome donor to some Republicans, such as Tennessee senator Bill Frist and Arizona senator John McCain in the early 2010s, Oz’s experience in the health industry and media stardom attracted the eyes of other conservatives. This included President Trump, who appointed him to the newly-established President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition in 2018, aiming to promote physical fitness.

However, a few years afterwards, in 2021, was when Oz officially began his descent into the political world, when the Turkish-American announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for the United States Senate seat in Pennsylvania. 

Notably, Oz bashed liberal “elites” who “shut down our businesses and took away our freedom,” calling to “confront those who want to change the very soul of America.”

During his campaign in the Republican primary, Oz assembled an extremely diverse coalition of supporters befitting his unique career and background, including the likes of Black politician Ben Carson, Asian-American Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, and President Trump himself, who called Oz “brilliant and well-known.” 

President Trump with Dr. Oz at a Pennsylvania rally. Source: ABC News

Meanwhile, Dr. Oz’s main opponent was now-Senator Dave McCormick, who had more support from the Republican establishment. Nonetheless, Oz narrowly beat McCormick in the Republican primary by around 1,000 votes, or 0.07%. 

He went on to lose comfortably to Democrat John Fetterman in the general election, amid a nation-wide overperformance for the Democratic Party.

However, Oz’s involvement in politics did not end there. Having caught President Trump’s eye during his work in the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition and on the Pennsylvania campaign trail, Oz was nominated by the president to become the next administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which administers Medicaid and health insurance standards. 

With little opposition among most Senate Republicans, he was confirmed 53-45 on a party-line vote to become the next CMS administrator.

Mehmet Oz is a controversial figure to many, representing a range of contrasting and shifting qualities. As a trained and highly qualified surgeon, he was drawn to media stardom, which both irritated some of his colleagues and earned him fame. As a media star, he became well-established within that career but later broke with those, such as Oprah Winfrey, who helped propel him to fame when he shifted to politics. Now, as a man holding great power over the U.S. government’s policy on medical services and regulation, not many people know his next move.