Ronny Lynn Jackson (born May 4, 1967) is an American physician, politician, and former United States Navy officer.

Jackson joined the White House Medical Unit in the mid-2000s under George W. Bush, and served as physician to the president from 2013 to 2018 under Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

[9][10][11][12][13][14] In February 2019, Trump appointed Jackson assistant to the president and chief medical advisor, a new position in the Executive Office.

In 2021, an investigation by the Defense Department inspector general found that Jackson had engaged in various inappropriate behaviors as an admiral; the following year, the Navy retroactively demoted him to the rank of captain.

[20][21] In June 2006, Jackson became a physician in the White House Medical Unit (WHMU),[21] ultimately working under three presidents.

"[22][26] Jackson was criticized for the statements[26] and accused of misstating Trump's height and weight in order to minimize his obesity.

[21] Jackson held the Navy rank of captain from May 1, 2010, to October 1, 2016, when he was promoted to rear admiral (lower half).

[21] In July 2022, the Navy demoted Jackson from rear admiral (lower half) to captain for actions "not in keeping with the standards the Navy requires of its leaders",[32][33] citing "substantiated allegations" in a 2018 investigation by the Defense Department's inspector general into reports that the physician had drunk alcohol while on duty, acted inappropriately, and routinely yelled at subordinates.

[34][35] Despite the demotion, Jackson continued to represent himself as an admiral on his congressional website through at least March 2024, when the story was first uncovered by The Washington Post.

[3][36] On March 28, 2018, Trump announced that he planned to nominate Jackson to succeed David Shulkin as Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

[43] While acting as Physician to the President, Jackson earned the nicknames "the candyman" and "Dr. Feelgood" for ignoring medical procedures and dispensing drugs without prescriptions.

[42] On April 25, CNN reported that during an overseas trip in 2015, an intoxicated Jackson knocked on a female employee's hotel room door so noisily that the Secret Service stopped him to prevent him from waking President Obama.

[52] Jackson insisted that the allegations were "completely false and fabricated" and said he was withdrawing because the controversy had become a distraction for Trump and his agenda.

[54] In May 2018, after receiving 12 complaints about Jackson's conduct, the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General (OIG) opened an investigation.

[57] The OIG concluded, by a preponderance of the evidence, that Jackson had "made sexual and denigrating statements about one of his female medical subordinates to another of his subordinates"; that Jackson "drank alcohol with his subordinates in Manila, became intoxicated, and, while in his hotel room, engaged in behavior that witnesses described as screaming and yelling, and behavior that some complained might wake the President"; and that Jackson took Ambien (a sleep medication) during official travel, "raising concerns about his potential incapacity to provide proper medical care during this travel.

"[21][58] In addition to findings that Jackson had "engaged in inappropriate conduct involving the use of alcohol" during two presidential trips, the report also found that he "disparaged, belittled, bullied, and humiliated subordinates"; "created a negative WHMU work environment"; and "failed to conduct himself in an exemplary manner and made an unfavorable impact on the overall WHMU command climate.

He leveraged that relationship to obtain assistance from two top officials with Trump's reelection campaign, Justin Clark and Bill Stepien.

"[79] In December 2022, according to The Intercept, Jackson falsely claimed that California representative Katie Porter had asserted that "pedophilia is not a crime" but "an identity", referring to an edited video of a congressional hearing.

[82] Republicans voting against it contended it did not cut spending enough, while Democrats objected to the increased work requirements for program recipients.

[83] Jackson voted against the 2022 PACT ACT, which expanded VA benefits to veterans exposed to toxic chemicals during their military service.

[84] He also voted against the 2022 MORE Act,[85][86] which proposes the federal decriminalization of cannabis and whose passage was supported by the Disabled American Veterans group.

[88] Video of the incident provided by the Texas Department of Public Safety showed that Jackson tried to help a teenager suffering from a seizure.