When President Donald Trump offered White House physician Ronny Jackson the top position at the Department of Veterans Affairs, he expressed shock and appeared hesitant to accept, The Washington Post reports.
Jackson, a career naval officer who served as a White House physician for 12 years, "was taken aback" by Trump's offer, according to the Post, who cite anonymous senior White House officials. He later hesitated after aides gauged his interest, but eventually accepted after Trump kept pushing and telling his staff that Jackson was his first choice.
One official described Jackson's interview as informal, and noted that he was not subjected to the typical extensive vetting that a Cabinet appointment goes through.
Last February, Jackson was considered for the top position at the Veterans Health Administration, the healthcare branch of the VA. He spoke to a selection panel in an informal interview, before which he said that Trump was unwilling to let him leave the White House.
"I don't remember him coming in trying to convince us he had the experience to do the job. He did not inflate his qualifications," one panel member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told the Post.
"The tone was, 'Maybe I don't have the same kind of experience as others who came before me in the job.'"
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