Several Trump administration officials are now said to be eating their way through a Trump Cabinet sauerkraut diet, a fermented-food routine that has left behind more than a little odor. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Vice President JD Vance are among those described as taking part.
The detail is landing now because the diet is no longer being framed as a private wellness habit. It is being described as a shared habit inside the Trump administration, one that has become noticeable enough that people around the officials are reacting to it. The reported that they apparently believe the health benefits outweigh the slightly sulfurous odors that have been the cause of some domestic friction.
Kennedy has been on the regimen for about a year, and his wife, Cheryl Hines, described the routine in a way that makes the scale of it plain. She said he wakes up at 6:30 every morning to cook steak and eat sauerkraut, and she recalled him handing her a bag of sauerkraut while they were dressed up in the car and asking her to put it in her clutch. Her answer was blunt: she said she could not.
The pattern reaches beyond Kennedy. Lutnick has been fermenting his own vegetables instead of buying jars, while Duffy’s commitment was apparently obvious enough that Kevin McCarthy noticed his glowing skin and asked about it directly. Vance reportedly snacks on pickles and fermented sides even while traveling on Air Force Two. Together, the examples suggest this is not a one-off fad but a diet that has spread through at least part of the Trump Cabinet.
That spread matters because the diet is tied to a specific pitch from Dr. Sean O'Mara, who has built a private practice around it and charges consultations as high as $18,000. O'Mara argues that the benefits to appearance and energy are worth any lingering odor, and the report says the regimen is intended to promote weight loss and a healthier gut microbiome. In other words, the same food that is supposed to improve how these officials look and feel is also creating a daily smell problem for the people closest to them.
The unanswered question is how far the habit has gone inside the Trump administration. The report names four senior officials, but it does not say whether they are the full extent of the sauerkraut set or just the most visible examples. For now, the only clear conclusion is that a diet sold as health-minded has become an occupational hazard in the White House orbit.
