WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 President Donald Trump isn鈥檛 a doctor. But he played one on TV Monday, offering copious amounts of unproven medical advice that he suggested — often without providing evidence — might help reduce autism rates.
Trump repeatedly implored pregnant women to avoid taking the painkiller Tylenol, the bestselling form of acetaminophen. That’s despite the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists long recommending acetaminophen as a safe option during pregnancy. He even weighed in on when children should be given painkillers.
Speaking alongside Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., himself a , Trump stopped short of opposing all vaccines. But he said key immunizations should be delayed, or combination shots should be given separately 鈥 even though it has been proven that .
鈥淒on鈥檛 let them pump your baby up with the largest pile of stuff you鈥檝e ever seen in your life,鈥 he said.
Trump also wildly overstated how such shots 鈥 some of which protect against four diseases 鈥 are given.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 very bad. They鈥檙e pumping, it looks like they鈥檙e pumping into a horse,” Trump said. “You have a little child. A little fragile child. And you鈥檝e got a vat of 80 different vaccines, I guess, 80 different blends, and they pump it in.鈥
Dr. Trump redux
The presentation recalled the early days of the during Trump鈥檚 first term, when the president stood for daily White House briefings and tossed out grossly inaccurate claims 鈥 including famously suggesting that could help people.
鈥淚 see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside, or almost a cleaning?鈥 Trump asked in April 2020. 鈥淎s you see, it gets in the lungs, it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that.鈥
He later claimed he’d been joking, but those briefings soon stopped. His tone stayed serious Monday.
The president suggested unspecified problems with the the safe and effective MMR 鈥 measles, mumps and rubella 鈥 vaccine and advised parents to wait years later than now, until age 12, for hepatitis B vaccines to be given to children.
The theme he hit harder than any other, though, was declaring a supposed link between autism and acetaminophen. Trump repeated, 鈥淒on鈥檛 take Tylenol,鈥 with increasing urgency and eventually shouted it.
Tylenol maker Kenvue disputed any link between the drug and autism and said in a statement that if pregnant mothers don鈥檛 use Tylenol when in need, they could face a choice between suffering potentially dangerous fevers or using riskier painkiller alternatives.
Trump, Kennedy and many of the administration’s top health officials all spoke, but largely repeated known statistics rather than new research findings. Trump appeared to acknowledge that science might not be on his side, saying at one point, 鈥淚鈥檓 just making these statements from me.”
“I鈥檓 not making them from these doctors,鈥 the president conceded. 鈥淐ause when they, uh, talk about, you know, different results, different studies, I talk about a lot of common sense. And they have that, too. They have that too, a lot.鈥
But then he later insisted he’d 鈥渟poken to many doctors about everything we鈥檙e talking about.鈥
Many scientists were appalled
鈥淭he announcement on autism was the saddest display of a lack of evidence, rumors, recycling old myths, lousy advice, outright lies, and dangerous advice I have ever witnessed by anyone in authority in the world claiming to know anything about science,鈥 Arthur Caplan, of the New York University School of Medicine’s Division of Medical Ethics, said in a statement. 鈥淲hat was said was not only unsupported and wrong but flat out malpractice in managing pregnancy and protecting fetal life.鈥
President Donald Trump on Monday used the platform of the presidency to promote unproven and in some cases discredited ties between Tylenol, vaccines and autism as his administration announced a wide-ranging effort to study the causes of the complex brain disorder. (Sept. 22, 2025)
AP VideoAhead of the autism event, Trump had suggested that his administration had discovered new medical links that would dramatically explain why its rates have risen. But his preparation didn’t include learning how to pronounce acetaminophen, which tripped him up.
鈥淎sedo ... well, let鈥檚 see how we say that. Acid em ... menophin,鈥 Trump stammered before continuing, 鈥淎cetaminophen? Is that OK?鈥
Trump also insisted there was 鈥渘o downside鈥 to Americans heeding his advice “other than a mother will have to, as I say, tough it out a little bit鈥 and avoid Tylenol for pain while pregnant.
鈥淓verything I said, there鈥檚 no downside to doing it,” Trump said. “It can only be good.鈥 Still, untreated fevers in pregnancy, particularly the first trimester, increase the risk for miscarriages, preterm birth and other problems, according to the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine.
The president tried to head off such criticism by blaming pharmaceutical companies and 鈥渕aybe doctors鈥 for having suppressed critical medical information previously. He said his statements were based on 鈥渢he information that we have.鈥
鈥淚鈥檓 making them out front, and I鈥檓 making them loud,” Trump said. “And I’m making them strongly.”
