What did Donald Trump do today?

He named a very on-brand appointee to run the CDC and provoked a massive staff walkout.

A White House spokesperson said today that the Centers for Disease Control would be run by Jim O'Neill, a former speechwriter and venture capitalist. O'Neill's most notable contribution to public health has been his insistence that allowing people to sell their organs would improve health care.

Today, at the CDC campus in Atlanta, hundreds of staff walked out of the building and cheered for Monarez and three other senior officials who resigned in protest over her firing.

Dr. Deb Houry, who resigned as Deputy Director of the CDC, receives flowers from a crowd of staffers

Robert Kennedy Jr., who Trump appointed as Secretary of Health and Human Services as part of a political endorsement bargain made during the 2024 campaign, faced calls for his resignation. Yesterday, he told a crowd that children today suffer from "mitochondrial challenges," saying that he could diagnose "inflammation" and "lack of social connection" in children by examining their faces. Kennedy is a former talk show host and recovering heroin addict whose adoption of fad diets led to at least two different neurological diseases that, by his own admission. caused cognitive problems. He has no medical background.

More than a day after the CDC's social media claimed that Trump had fired Monarez, it remained unclear that Trump had actually taken the legal steps necessary to do so. Her lawyers said today they were "not aware" of any changes to her status, which only Trump himself can change.

Trump himself has not made any public appearances since Tuesday's Cabinet meeting, although staff claimed he signed some executive orders today—something he normally enjoys doing in front of an audience, especially when the subject is something he enjoys talking about. (Today's order concerned the decoration of federal buildings, something he's been positively obsessed with since his second term began.) 

By contrast, Vice-President JD Vance has been visible, mentioning in the course of an interview that he feels able to take over the presidency should the need arise.

Why does this matter?

• Americans' health and well-being is way too important to leave to an incompetent crank, or anyone willing to rubber-stamp what an incompetent crank wants to do.