America’s Real ‘Secretary of War’
How public health became an endless battle
By Benjamin Mazer, The Atlantic
Three days into 2026, the United States military seized a foreign leader: Nicolás Maduro. Four days after that, the U.S. health department freed a longtime prisoner of war: saturated fats.
At a recent press conference announcing the publication of the government’s new dietary guidelines, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declared two different military operations in the span of less than a minute: The nation would be retreating from its war on fatty steaks and whole milk, he said, and redeploying for another war, this one on added sugars. News about a third campaign arrived a few days later, when the White House shared a dark and menacing photo of Kennedy with the caption “WE ARE ENDING THE WAR ON PROTEIN.”
