Saphier Md
AN 5 26
While President Donald Trump’s surgeon general nominee, Nicole Saphier, makes a big show on social media of the chickens living on her massive New Jersey estate, critics say it’s all part of a ruse to let her exploit a state tax loophole. What’s more, she herself admits that her farming image is all “pretend.”
According to records obtained by Politico, Saphier — who is a radiologist by profession — uses her chickens to justify calling her property “farmland,” which allows her to take advantage of agricultural tax cuts. This program has been so widely abused that both Democrats and Republicans have questioned its validity.
And now Saphier’s farm claims are raising questions. It was not designated as farmland when she purchased it and has none of the usual markers of a farm like a barn, but it does include a “palatial home" with "26 rooms, an in-ground pool, home theater with 13 seats, yoga studio and a wine room.” State Farmland Evaluation Committee Jack Curtis, who helps oversee the program, suggested that her estate is a “poster child” of abuse. “If you want privacy and you want 10 acres of land surrounding [your] estate, great — good for you,” he said. “But pay your taxes. That’s all.”
When Saphier’s property tax breaks take effect later this year, she will only have to pay around $40 in property taxes on her 10.35-acre estate. According to Politico’s calculations, her rate should be more like $7,200. These numbers do not include taxes on the house itself.
While Saphier’s CV includes her background as a radiologist, author and Fox News contributor, she also describes herself as a part-time “farmer” on her Instagram bio. But as Politico notes, even she herself has admitted this to be false, posting, “the reality is, I’m not a real farmer. I just kind of pretend like I am.”
“The farmland assessment law was established in the 1960sto help struggling farmers and preserve farmland,” explains Politico. “But state law has broad interpretation for what is considered farmland; a property owner can qualify for the tax break if they have over five contiguous acres of land and sell above a certain threshold of farm products for two years.”
That threshold is at least $1,000 in agricultural sales per year. In her application, Saphier reported “$1,000+” in “anticipated” farm income. She claims that around half of her supposed farmland cultivates hay, chickens, apples, rosemary and lavender, while the other half is enrolled in a farmland program to promote forestry. Politico does not have information on whether her claims were verified by tax officials. Local officials did not respond to requests for comment, and the White House declined Politico’s request for a tour of the farm.
Critics of the program say that it is widely abused by New Jersey’s wealthiest landowners. Another property near Saphier’s taking advantage of it is a Trump golf course, which slashes tens of thousands of dollars annually from its tax burden by claiming it produces hay and that its grass is cut by goats.
mma
Surgeon general nominee Nicole Saphier criticized the Trump administration on her podcast and Fox
CNN reported that Saphier deleted posts criticizing the Trump administration for its recommendation against pregnant women using Tylenol and its handling of measles. Saphier used similar rhetoric on her podcast and Fox News.
Written by Payton Armstrong & Sophie Lawton
Published 05/07/26 4:56 PM EDT
Citation
From the December 12, 2025, edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends
President Donald Trump's latest surgeon general nominee, Nicole Saphier, reportedly deleted social media posts with commentary critical of some of the Trump administration's health-related policy and messaging. She pushed similar rhetoric on her podcast and Fox News.
As a Fox News medical contributor and podcast host, Saphier said the administration's announcement recommending pregnant women not take Tylenol was “painful to watch” and “really irresponsible” and “some of it was factually incorrect.” She also criticized the administration’s handling of measles on her podcast, saying it’s “pretty sad, pretty embarrassing from a public health perspective,” that the country is “at risk of losing” its measles eradication status.
On April 30, Trump nominated Saphier after his previous nominee, Casey Means, reportedly “faced opposition because of her significant conflicts of interest in the wellness industry and a lack of support for vaccines.” Saphier repeatedly downplayed the COVID-19 pandemic and undermined related public health measures while at Fox, and she “has questioned routine childhood vaccines and other public health measures.”
New CNN reporting revealed that Saphier deleted social media posts in which she criticized Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s health policies, including Trump’s comments linking Tylenol use to autism, the administration’s handling of measles, and changes to federal vaccine policy:
Just two months before she was selected as President Donald Trump’s nominee for surgeon general, Dr. Nicole Saphier suggested the administration was hiding that measles was spreading widely enough in the United States for the country to lose its “elimination” status until after the midterm elections.
…
Saphier also repeatedly criticized Trump’s messaging surrounding Tylenol use during pregnancy after the president publicly urged pregnant women to avoid the medication over unproven claims linking it to autism and told women to “tough it out” rather than take it for pain or fever.
“As a mom of 3 kids, I don’t love a man telling me to ‘tough it out’ when it comes to pregnancy. Words matter. Facts matter too,” she wrote in a since-deleted post from September 2025.
Saphier also levied similar criticisms at the administration during appearances on Fox and her own podcast Wellness Unmasked.
Saphier appeared on Fox News Radio's Charles Payne's Unstoppable Prosperity Podcast in September 2025 to discuss a press conference where Trump declared, “Don't take Tylenol. … If you're pregnant, don't take Tylenol. And don't give it to the baby after the baby is born,” and claimed there is a link Tylenol and autism, which experts dispute.
During the appearance, Saphier said her “biggest concern” was the “messaging” that pregnant mothers should not take Tylenol. “If women are so afraid of Tylenol during pregnancy and let their fevers go unchecked, you’re going to see even more cases of autism,” she said.
On Charles Payne's Unstoppable Prosperity Podcast, Nicole Saphier discusses her concerns about the Trump administration's messaging about Tylenol and pregnancy
September 22, 2025
Audio file
Audio Player
00:00
00:51
Share
Citation
From the September 22, 2025, edition of Fox News Radio's Charles Payne's Unstoppable Prosperity Podcast
In a September 2025 Wellness Unmasked episode, Saphier covered the Trump administration's press conference on links between Tylenol and autism. During the episode, she said, “There was a lot of information presented at this press conference. Some of it was factually correct. Some of it was factually incorrect,” and she called it “painful to watch” and “full of hyperbole.”
She explained that there have been many “observational studies” on possible links between Tylenol and autism but they have not proved a causal link.
Nicole Saphier calls "some" of the Trump administration's claims about Tylenol and autism "factually incorrect"
September 23, 2025
Audio file
Audio Player
00:00
03:22
Share
Citation
From the September 23, 2025, edition of Premiere Radio Network's Wellness Unmasked
A month later, Saphier called some of the administration's remarks on Tylenol “really irresponsible” because Trump was not “wholly transparent about the data that backs up those comments.”
Nicole Saphier says the Trump administration is "really irresponsible" for not saying where the data on giving children Tylenol came from
October 31, 2025
Audio file
Audio Player
00:00
00:48
Share
Citation
From the October 31, 2025, edition of Premiere Radio Network's Wellness Unmasked
Saphier has shared criticism about the rise in measles in the United States on both Fox News and her podcast. In one podcast episode, she said it’s “pretty sad, pretty embarrassing from a public health perspective” that the country is “at risk of losing” its measles eradication status.
Nicole Saphier says the rise of measles in the United States is "pretty sad, pretty embarrassing from a public health perspective"
April 16, 2026
Audio file
Audio Player
00:00
00:33
Share
Citation
From the April 16, 2026, edition of Premiere Radio Network's Wellness Unmasked
And in a 2025 Fox News interview, she pointed to “declining vaccination rates” as a cause of outbreaks of measles across the country. According to Saphier, the “mishandling of COVID” led to declining rates, and “we’re going to see further declines in vaccination rates” and “more measles cases” as “we are seeing even more mistrust and confusion” with “the way things are going right now with the CDC and current vaccination advisory committees.”