Former Trump administration health adviser Calley Means alleged that senior White House officials—led by then–Chief of Staff Susie Wiles—put corporate donors ahead of President Donald Trump’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) health agenda. Means made the claims in an interview released Friday on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” according to The Gateway Pundit’s account of the discussion.
What Means Says Happened
Means said top aides repeatedly sided with the sugar, tobacco, pharmaceutical, and processed-food industries while resisting MAHA-aligned efforts on children’s diets, ultra-processed foods, and related reforms. He attributed to Wiles statements such as, “We need money for the midterms, Calley. We need money for the midterms,” and, “I need the money from the sugar people to win the midterms.”
He told Rogan he resigned in October, describing a “concentrated group of people” as “antagonistic to what people voted for.” Means claimed the culture rewarded companies that hired connected firms, pointing to alleged “preferential access” for entities that retained Continental Strategy, where Wiles’ daughter, Katie Wiles, is a lobbyist. He named figures he tied to Wiles’ orbit, including Richard Walters, Walker Barrett, James Blair, and pollster Tony Fabrizio.
In a clip highlighted by the outlet, Means said of Wiles, “No policy decision gets done without her office giving it the okay,” and described the culture around policymaking as “demonic.”
Timing and Political Fallout, Per the Report
The Gateway Pundit reported that Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress on November 3 and that on November 6 President Trump announced Wiles would leave the chief-of-staff role, with Stephen Miller taking over on November 9. The report says Trump praised Wiles and indicated she would keep working for his political operation.
According to the outlet, Means later told CBS’s Face the Nation he believed Trump had been “subverted by people that are beholden to special interests,” that he intended his remarks to help remove Wiles, and that elevating Miller signaled a move back toward “America First” promises.
Lobbying Backdrop—and a Denial
The article cites federal disclosures showing Ballard Partners collected about $88 million in lobbying revenue during 2025, more than quadruple its 2024 total, and references a May 2025 Public Citizen report identifying six former Wiles clients that reported lobbying White House offices early in the administration. The White House, per the report, disputed claims of improper influence and said Wiles generally did not participate in matters involving former clients. The report notes the disclosures do not, by themselves, prove Wiles improperly favored companies.
Ballard Partners “firmly” denied Means’s allegations in a statement posted on X via the firm’s account on November 8, 2026, according to the article.
Pushback and Next Steps
The outlet attributes a dismissal of the accusations to “Attorney General Todd Blanche,” calling Means a “disgruntled former administration official,” and says the White House pointed to MAHA progress on dietary guidelines and artificial ingredients. It reports that Means maintains key decisions happened without Trump’s full knowledge and alleges the president was, at times, treated “like a baby.”
Means has publicly asked Wiles, Ballard Partners, Continental Strategy, and others to preserve records, posting on X that if any factual inaccuracies are shown to him in writing, he would “vigorously correct and apologize for any misstatements.” He also wrote that discovery would test whether lobbying firms had “undue influence on the White House policy process.”
What’s Not Yet Clear
The Gateway Pundit’s report is based largely on Means’s interview remarks and subsequent public statements, plus a denial from Ballard Partners and general pushback referenced from officials. The report does not provide underlying documents or messages to independently substantiate the specific interactions Means describes.
