Washington DC - Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he was appointing celebrity ex-surgeon and reality TV star Dr. Oz to lead Medicare and Medicaid programs.

The 64-year-old heart surgeon, whose full name is Mehmet Cengiz Öz, unsuccessfully ran for a Senate seat in 2022, losing to Democrat John Fetterman in Pennsylvania.

Oz is the latest of Trump's hugely controversial picks for key positions, including Fox News host Pete Hegseth to be defense secretary, vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary, and billionaire Elon Musk to head a department for cutting government spending.

"America is facing a Healthcare Crisis and there may be no Physician more qualified and capable than Dr. Oz to Make America Healthy Again," the president-elect posted on his Truth Social platform.

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The appointment puts a man whose unscientific health recommendations – especially on Covid and weight loss – have often been ridiculed and slammed by the medical community at the helm of the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

As CMS administrator, Oz will be in charge of a federal agency that provides health coverage to more than 160 million Americans – almost half the country's population.

It employs about 6,700 people, had outlays of $1.48 trillion last year, and is one of the largest purchasers of healthcare services in the world.