The new acting commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), who Donald Trump described as a “very talented person”, is a former corporate lawyer who previously defended a popular formula maker against claims of its product harming premature babies.
Kyle Diamantas, who most recently served as the FDA deputy commissioner for food, will be taking over as acting FDA commissioner.
In his prior role, Diamantas oversaw FDA nutrition and food safety protocols. He also “set the strategic direction and operations for food policy in the US” while serving as a liaison between the FDA, the health and human services department, and the White House, according to the FDA’s website. Diamantas also represented the agency on dealings related to food with foreign governments and international organizations.
Diamantas’s ascension to the top role at the agency comes after his predecessor Marty Makary resigned on Tuesday. Makary’s 13-month tenure at the regulatory agency was marked by tumult and frustration from both sides of the aisle. He clashed with lawmakers on Capitol Hill about drug regulation decisions and a review of mifepristone, an abortion medication, which conservative members of Congress accused him of slow-walking.
Trump signed off on a plan to fire Makary earlier this month, after the president admonished the FDA chief for not approving fruit-flavored vapes, per reporting in the Wall Street Journal.
Diamantas will not be taking over the role permanently, as of now. On Tuesday afternoon, Robert F Kennedy Jr, the US health secretary, posted that “the search for a new [FDA] Commissioner is already underway, and we will move forward with urgency”. In the same post, Kennedy thanked Diamantas for his leadership, which he says has “already delivered remarkable wins on the MAHA food agenda”.
Within the agency, Diamantas is generally viewed as a non-controversial pick to temporarily lead, according to reporting from the Washington Post. Two former officials told the outlet that Diamantas was able to avoid controversy by keeping senior leadership in place at the Human Foods Program (HFP), compared to other centers which saw high turnover.
Diamantas, 38, left Miami law firm Jones Day to join the FDA in February 2025. At the firm, where he served as a partner, he defended Abbott Laboratories in a lawsuit accusing the company of failing to inform parents that its formula for premature infants increased the risk of a deadly gastrointestinal condition. The New York Times first reported Diamantas’s involvement in the case.
In 2024, Abbott lost the lawsuit and was forced to pay $495m. A Missouri appellate court upheld the decision in May 2026, after an appeal from the manufacturer.
Diamantas is also apparently a close friend of Donald Trump Jr, the president’s eldest son. A 2021 post on X from Mike Tussey, founder of hunting club Osceola Outdoors, includes a photo of the two men with the caption: “Don Jr. With his good friend Kyle Diamantas! Kyle’s first Osceola!” In the photo, each man holds up his own dead bird.
Like many of his colleagues, Diamantas has frequented the Maha podcast circuit over the last year, spending time with Paul Saladino, a health influencer who has touted the benefits of a carnivore diet, as well as “biohacker” and longevity expert Gary Brecka.
Diamantas, who holds a juris doctor from the University of Florida Levin College of Law, has no professional medical experience. He replaced former deputy commissioner of food Jim Jones, who resigned from the FDA in February 2025 over the Trump administration’s mass layoffs of federal employees. Prior to his role at Jones Day, he worked as a senior associate at the Orlando office of the law firm Baker Donelson.
In his now-archived Jones Day biography reported by Vanity Fair, he is described as having “more than 10 years of experience advising food, cosmetic, dietary supplement, drug, and other life sciences and consumer goods clients on a wide range of regulatory, compliance, and enforcement matters”.
A key responsibility of Diamantas’s FDA role was the update of dietary guidelines for Americans, which included inverting the traditional food pyramid, placing meats and vegetables at the widest point on top. In line with the Maha agenda, the updated guidelines “can help prevent the onset or slow the rate of progression of chronic disease”, according to administration officials.
In a December 2025 interview with Politico, Diamantas said that his biggest achievement during the first year of the second Trump administration was the removal of petroleum-based artificial dyes from food products.
When asked about the administration’s fight against ultra-processed foods, Diamantas said: “We’re not looking to ban people from eating ultra-processed foods. If you want to go have a box of Ding Dongs after this, you can do that. This is America. What we’re saying is people should understand what these products are, and consumers should make choices.”
In the same interview, Diamantas acknowledged his prior work representing Abbott, saying that he followed a one-year recusal from infant formula matters after his 2025 appointment. However, he said that he was planning to “dive back into infant formula” in the new year, and that he would be working to “ensure the safety of formula, not just from chemical additives, but also microbiological issues”, citing a recent infant botulism outbreak.
Secretary Kennedy appointed Diamantas in February 2026 as senior counselor for the FDA, which he had been serving in addition to his role as deputy commissioner for food.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: theguardian.com
