DR MARC SIEGEL Why Trump addiction recovery initiative should honor AA founders Bill W. and Dr. Bob

I applaud President Trump’s January 29 executive order, known as the Great American Recovery Initiative, but I think it should be renamed the Bill W. and Dr. Bob Initiative, in honor of the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous. Both men suffered from severe alcoholism until the fateful day in December 1934, when Bill Wilson experienced a spiritual awakening – described as a blinding white light – after demanding that God show himself. Bill also described the feeling of standing on a mountain with the wind of the Spirit blowing through him, and he immediately felt liberated, his obsession with alcohol gone.

This conversion experience formed the basis of Bill W.’s spiritual transformation and recovery from alcoholism, and led to the basic 12-step program of Alcoholics Anonymous, which Bill W. co-founded in June 1935 with Dr. Robert Smith. Dr. Bob also suffered from severe alcoholism and Bill W. helped him quit. In June, Dr. Bob had his last drink. Along with Sister Ignatia, Dr. Bob helped transfer his freedom from alcohol to others, providing medical care and physical counseling to thousands of alcoholics in Akron, Ohio, and across the country.

The reason I believe President Trump’s initiative could be called the Bill W. and Dr. Bob Initiative is that, like AA, it recognizes the importance of community, health, and faith. These elements must be the central tenets of the plan for it to be successful. The White House announcement says its goal is to “coordinate a national response to the disease of addiction across government, health care, faith communities, and the private sector to save lives, restore families, strengthen our communities, and build the Great American Recovery.”

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Trump’s initiative was soon followed this week by HHS’s $100 million Safety Through Recovery, Engagement and Evidence-based Treatment and Supports (STREETS) program, which will focus on substance abuse, mental health, homelessness and crisis intervention.

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during an announcement regarding mental health and substance abuse initiatives in Washington, DC, February 2, 2026. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

This is a much-needed program, and I was pleased to see it led by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., himself a recovered heroin addict, as well as his cousin, former Rep. Patrick Kennedy, a recovering alcoholic whom I interviewed and found to be a powerful and compelling voice for recovery.

The reason I believe President Trump’s initiative could be called the Bill W. and Dr. Bob Initiative is that, like AA, it recognizes the importance of community, health, and faith.

Keep in mind that denial is a key part of the problem for most addicts, and deep faith, along with example, is an essential way to overcome this denial. As the White House noted in its fact sheet, “48.4 million Americans, or 16.8 percent of our nation’s population, suffer from addiction, and yet very few of those who need treatment receive it or believe they need it.”

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During President Trump’s first term in 2019, when he declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency, he also acknowledged that his brother Fred had “a very, very, very difficult life” before succumbing to alcoholism and heart disease. Trump told me the same thing when I interviewed him at the White House in July 2020, and I saw firsthand how much this loss had affected him personally.

Trump’s heart is clearly in the right place when it comes to the current initiative — and he’s not alone. Announcing the new federal drug and alcohol plan included Kathryn Burgum, a former alcoholic and wife of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, as well as U.S. Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff, who shared the story of his son dying of a drug overdose during the event.

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Raising awareness is a noble goal, as is recognizing how difficult it is to kick addictions. The role of faith and the Church must be emphasized, as must the scientific tools that enable miraculous cures – from buprenorphine, a partial opioid agonist, to naltrexone, an opioid antagonist that blocks both euphoria and cravings. GLP-1 agonists also show promise in decreasing cravings for alcohol and drugs and in reducing alcohol consumption, in part by delaying gastric emptying. Medically assisted treatment of opioids – particularly methadone, naltrexone and buprenorphine – has been shown to reduce opioid-related deaths by more than 50%.

As I wrote in my new book, “Miracles Among Us,” so-called gentle miracles result from a complex combination of science and faith.

All of these tools cost money and the federal government should help make them more accessible. Indeed, every primary care physician like me should have the unrestricted ability to prescribe these life-saving medications, and every major church and synagogue should have a federally subsidized recovery program for drug and alcohol addiction.

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Addiction destroys not only individuals, but entire families and communities. Recovery from addiction is a multi-pronged process involving faith, access to quality health care, and committed leaders who can relate to the problem.

Ninety years after Bill W. and Dr. Bob started us on the path to overcoming addiction, their spiritual and caring approach is more important than ever.

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