Ronny Jackson

Dr. Ronny Jackson served as Donald Trump’s physician from January 2017 to March 2018.

Donald Trump’s disgraced former personal physician was embarrassingly snubbed by the president, despite pumping money into his businesses.

Former White House doctor Ronny Jackson has remained close to the president despite withdrawing from consideration to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs in his first term amid misconduct allegations.

The Texas congressman has also kept his wallet close by. Team Ronny PAC—a joint fundraising vehicle benefiting the Texas Republican’s campaign alongside Texas Red and the National Republican Congressional Committee—has funneled more than $120,000 directly into Donald Trump’s corporate coffers, according to the Washington Post.

The spending spree included a single, eye-popping bill for more than $48,000 at the Mar-a-Lago Club in April. The tab was run up during the week of Jackson’s birthday blowout, an extravaganza featuring a custom cake decorated with a stethoscope and a poolside bar—though the host of honor’s favorite president didn’t bother to show up.

Jackson’s representatives have been contacted for comment.

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Jackson served as physician to the president from 2013 to 2018 under Barack Obama, and then Trump, who nominated Jackson—who had achieved the rank of one-star rear admiral in the Navy—to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs in his first term.

It was then that Jackson’s many scandals came to light, with nearly two dozen current and former White House medical staff accusing him of drinking on the job, over-prescribing opioids, and creating a hostile work environment.

Then-Democratic Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, who was ranking member of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, revealed that Jackson was nicknamed “the Candyman” because he handed out medication so freely.

Other damning allegations included claims that Jackson crashed a government vehicle while intoxicated, drunkenly banged on a female employee’s hotel room door during an overseas trip until Secret Service intervened, and performed his official duties hungover.

“The allegations against me are completely false and fabricated,” Jackson said at the time, before withdrawing his nomination.

He returned to work in the White House, and in 2020 he was elected to the House of Representatives with Trump’s backing.

The claims of wrongdoing continued, however, with the Defense Department inspector general’s office releasing a damning report in 2021 concluding he had made “sexual and denigrating” comments about a female subordinate in the White House.

After he retired from the Navy in 2019, Jackson was demoted in 2022 from rear admiral to captain, though under the second Trump administration his old rank was reinstated, he announced in September last year.

Despite the scandals, Trump has continued to lean on Jackson, including asking him to be by his side after a gunman tried to assassinate him at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July 2024.

Jackson has also continued to vouch for the president’s health, despite not being his doctor anymore.

“Whenever I have a problem, I call Doc Ronnie, and he works it out. He’s a great guy,” Trump said in March.

Since returning to office in January 2025, the president has been plagued by swollen ankles, severe bruising on his hands, slurred speech, an uneven gait, and trouble staying awake during high-stakes summits.

Despite this, Jackson reckons he could live to 200. In 2018, Jackson said the president enjoyed good health despite a dubious diet and no exercise.

“It’s called genetics,” Jackson said. “Some people just have great genes. I told the president if he had a healthier diet over the last 20 years, he might live to be 200.”

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