Donald Trump indicated on Tuesday that Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson, his nominee to be secretary of veterans affairs, might drop out of consideration for the cabinet position. The White House doctor’s confirmation hearings have been indefinitely delayed in the Senate.

“I don’t want to put a man through a process that is too ugly like this and it’s disgusting,” the president said, addressing reporters alongside the French president, Emmanuel Macron. “I’ll stand behind him. He’s a fine man but it’s his choice.”

It would be “totally [Jackson’s] decision” whether to withdraw, Trump said.

Allegations began surfacing late last week involving Jackson’s workplace practices. Two aides who spoke anonymously to the Associated Press discussed claims of inappropriate behaviour and overprescribing prescription drugs. Before Trump spoke, Senate leaders delayed Jackson’s confirmation hearing, which had been set for Wednesday, citing “serious allegations”.

Trump said: “This person, Admiral Jackson, Dr Jackson, is a wonderful man. I said to him, ‘What do you need it for?’”

Jackson earlier told an NBC reporter he was “kind of disappointed” the hearing had been postponed but was “looking forward to getting it rescheduled and answering everybody’s questions”.



Asked to comment on “the allegations, a hostile work environment, the allegations about potentially drinking on the job, overprescribing medication”, Jackson said: “I’m looking forward to the hearing, so we can sit down and I can explain everything to everyone and answer all the senators’ questions.”

Asked if he would withdraw, he did not answer.

Later on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported that a 2012 watchdog report found that Jackson and a rival physician exhibited “unprofessional behaviors” as they engaged in a power struggle over the White House medical unit.

The report suggested the White House consider replacing Jackson or Dr Jeffrey Kuhlman or both. Kuhlman was the physician to Barack Obama at the time.

The report by the Navy’s medical inspector general found a lack of trust in the leadership and low morale among staff members, and said staff members described the working environment as “being caught between parents going through a bitter divorce”.

At his press conference, Trump complained at length about what he called obstruction by Democrats, a subject on which he has frequently expressed frustration. On Monday, the CIA director, Mike Pompeo, Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, narrowly cleared the Senate foreign relations committee.

What does he need it for? To be abused by a bunch of politicians that aren’t thinking nicely about our country Donald Trump

“The Dems will not approve hundreds of good people,” the president wrote on Twitter, “including the Ambassador to Germany. They are maxing out the time on approval process for all, never happened before. Need more Republicans!”

On Tuesday, Trump said Jackson was an “extraordinary person, his family extraordinarily successful, great doctor, great everything and he has to listen to the abuse that he has to. I wouldn’t, if I were him. Actually in many ways I’d love to be him but the fact is I wouldn’t do it, I wouldn’t do it.

“What does he need it for? To be abused by a bunch of politicians that aren’t thinking nicely about our country, I really don’t think personally he should do it. But it’s totally his, I’ll stand behind him, totally his decision.”

In a statement, the Senate VA committee chairman, Johnny Isakson, a Georgia Republican, and Jon Tester of Montana, the top Democrat, said: “We take very seriously our constitutional duty to thoroughly and carefully vet each nominee sent to the Senate for confirmation.”

Democrats assembled late on Monday. Tester reiterated that the allegations were out there, one aide said, but no specific evidence of wrongdoing was offered. White House and VA officials were quietly discussing a delay even as a White House spokesman, Hogan Gidley, praised Jackson early on Tuesday.

“Admiral Jackson has been on the frontlines of deadly combat and saved the lives of many others in service to this country. He’s served as the physician to three presidents, Republican and Democrat, and been praised by them all,” Gidley said. “Admiral Jackson’s record of strong, decisive leadership is exactly what’s needed at the VA to ensure our veterans receive the benefits they deserve.”

On Tuesday afternoon, the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, was asked if he still supported Jackson. He said: “I’m waiting to hear from both Chairman Isakson and from the administration what they believe the way forward should be and we’ll take our cues from them.”

McConnell parried a question about whether he was aware of the accusations when he met Jackson last week.

The Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, lamented “yet another example of the Trump administration’s failure to adequately and properly vet their nominees”. The president’s cabinet, he said, was the setting for a “sad game of musical chairs”. However, Schumer said the allegations would have to be corroborated before he considered a call for the nomination to be withdrawn.

In a January photo, Donald Trump shakes hands with Ronny Jackson. Photograph: Carolyn Kaster/AP

Trump selected Jackson last month after firing former Obama official David Shulkin following an ethics scandal and rebellion within the agency. Shulkin protested and said it was a political move.

The president was impressed with Jackson’s performance at the White House podium in January, telling aides he liked the doctor’s ability to field questions as he offered a glowing report on the 71-year-old president’s physical and mental health. Jackson spent nearly an hour extolling Trump’s “incredible genes” and joking that if he had eaten a healthier diet “he might live to be 200 years old”.

Jackson has faced questions from Republicans, Democrats and veterans’ groups about whether he has the experience to manage a massive department of 360,000 employees serving nine million military veterans.

At the Tuesday press conference, Trump said: “As far as experience is concerned, the veterans administration, which is approximately 13 million people, is so big, you could run the biggest hospital system in the world and [it would be] small-time compared to the veterans administration, so nobody has the experience.

“So what, he is a leader and a good man. I said, ‘What do you need it for?’ He’ll be making his decision and it’s totally his decision.”