Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says the sauerkraut diet that has moved through Donald Trump’s Cabinet helped him shed 20 pounds in 30 days, and he says JD Vance is on it too. What began as Kennedy’s own odd routine has turned into something the White House now talks about in passing, with several top officials swapping tips over fermented food, steak and a long list of things they have given up.
Kennedy made the weight-loss claim at an event in Michigan last week, giving the diet its clearest measure yet. He said Vance looks different on it, and he described a circle that now includes Howard Lutnick and Sean Duffy, with Kevin McCarthy also saying he was put on the plan after noticing how good Duffy’s skin looked. The diet was put together by Dr. Sean O’Mara and centers on vast quantities of sauerkraut, plus kimchi and grass-fed steak, while cutting out alcohol and sugary foods.
That is part of why the idea has spread so quickly inside the administration. Kennedy is already the loudest advocate for the Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again push, so his own routine has become a kind of proof of concept for others around him. He was the first to go on the diet, then persuaded other leading Cabinet officials to try it, turning a private health habit into a talking point inside the White House.
But the diet has an edge that does not fit the wellness pitch. Kennedy carries sauerkraut when he travels, and Cheryl Hines said last year that he needs a constant supply with him at all times. She said he hands her bags to put in her purse and she has to tell him, “I actually cannot.” That is the kind of domestic friction a diet built around fermented food can bring, especially when the smell follows the person who is supposed to be promoting better habits.
O’Mara has said he tends to work with older people because the return is greater, and he compared the effort to taking over a sinking ship. That helps explain the logic behind the plan, but it also shows how aggressive it is: this is not a casual trim-down regimen, it is a strict reset that asks people to change what they eat, what they drink and how they move through their day. Kevin McCarthy says he has lost around four inches off his waist since starting, which suggests the diet is doing something measurable for the people who stick with it.
For now, the answer to the basic question is simple: the diet has become real inside the Trump Cabinet because Kennedy made it personal, visible and repeatable. Whether it lasts is a different matter. If the weight loss continues and the group keeps trading tips at the White House, it could remain one of the more unusual habits to take hold around Trump. If the smell and the restrictions wear people down, the sauerkraut may end up as memorable for the jokes it caused as for the pounds it took off.
