President Trump says his soda habit comes with a health bonus, according to a story shared by Mehmet Oz—and doctors are now stepping in to say that it doesn't. On Donald Trump Jr.'s podcast, Oz said the former president has argued that diet soda is "good for him" because it can kill grass when poured on a lawn, so "therefore, it must kill cancer cells inside the body." Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon and former TV host who now heads the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, recalled walking aboard Air Force One to find Trump with an orange Fanta on his desk, reports the Guardian. When Oz busted him, Trump allegedly grinned and replied that the drink "kills cancer cells," and joked that Fanta can't be unhealthy because it's made with "fresh squeezed" orange juice from concentrate.
"As we all know, the president has a very good sense of humor. I have heard him tell this joke before," said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday, per USA Today. Joke or not, Trump Jr. suggested his father's approach might be working, noting that few men near 80 share Trump's "energy, recall, stamina." Oz added that Trump has long framed his fondness for fast food and sweet drinks as a strategy to avoid illness by relying on big chains with strict quality control.
Medical experts responding to the podcast stressed that no evidence supports the idea that diet soda—or any soda—prevents or treats cancer. Most diet sodas use aspartame, which the World Health Organization's cancer research arm labels "possibly carcinogenic" based on limited data, and some studies have linked high artificial sweetener intake with a modestly higher cancer risk. But while research on potential harms continues, physicians say there is zero scientific basis for calling soda a cancer killer. Chicago immunologist Zachary Rubin mocked the lawn analogy, quipping that by the same logic, bleach would be a "superfood."
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