# Ben Carson **Ben Carson** is the retired Johns Hopkins pediatric neurosurgeon who turned a celebrated medical career and a Christian-conservative speaking circuit into a 2016 presidential run. He was Trump's **Secretary of Housing and Urban Development** for the entire first term, and in the second term he returned as the **USDA's National Advisor for Nutrition, Health and Housing** (sworn in Sept. 24, 2025). He is one of the most durable Black conservative figures in Trump's orbit. ## Path - **Medicine.** He became famous for separating conjoined twins in 1987, wrote the memoir *Gifted Hands*, and became a fixture of evangelical and Seventh-day Adventist audiences. His Adventist faith is a regular part of his public persona. - **Politics.** A 2013 National Prayer Breakfast speech criticizing Obama made him a conservative star. He briefly led the 2016 Republican field in polls, then endorsed Trump after dropping out. - **HUD (2017–21).** Carson moved the department toward deregulation. In 2020 HUD repealed the Obama-era Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule, which Trump sold as protecting "the suburbs," and weakened the disparate-impact standard in fair-housing enforcement. A 2018 flap over a $31,000 dining set for his office became a symbol of cabinet spending. Trump named him to the [[1776 Commission]] in December 2020. - **Between terms.** He founded the **American Cornerstone Institute** (2021), a conservative think tank, and was floated for Trump's 2024 running mate shortlist. ## The second-term role At USDA, under Secretary [[Brooke Rollins]], Carson advises on nutrition, rural health care and housing. He also serves as the department's spokesperson on those issues and works with the "[[Make America Healthy Again]]" commission. It is a MAHA-branded post, not a cabinet job. It puts a physician's credibility behind the administration's food and health agenda at the same time that agenda is cutting nutrition and public-health programs. ## Why he matters Carson is the vault's example of **credentialed loyalty**: an outsider with real professional authority who lent it to Trump early, stayed through both terms, and was rewarded with visible roles. He is also a reference point in the right's messaging to Black and religious voters. ## See also - [[Trump 1.0 Cabinet Hub]] · [[First Trump Administration]] · [[Department of Housing and Urban Development]] - [[1776 Commission]] · [[Make America Healthy Again]] · [[Brooke Rollins]] · [[Liberty University]] - [[Trump 2016 Nomination]] · [[2025 Inauguration and First Wave EOs]]