President Donald Trump speaks at the White House on Monday, Sept. 22, 2025, as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., left, and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz listen.
President Donald Trump speaks at the White House on Monday, Sept. 22, 2025, as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., left, and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz listen.
By Ali Swenson And Amanda Seitz The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 President Donald Trump on Monday used the platform of the presidency to promote unproven ties between Tylenol, vaccines and autism without giving new evidence.
Speaking from the White House, Trump said women should not take acetaminophen, also known by the brand name Tylenol, 鈥渄uring the entire pregnancy.鈥 He said the Food and Drug Administration would begin notifying doctors that the use of acetaminophen 鈥渃an be associated鈥 with an increased risk of autism, but did not immediately provide any medical evidence for the FDA’s new recommendation.
Trump also raised unfounded concerns about vaccines contributing to rising rates of autism, which affects today, according to the CDC. said that at Trump’s urging he is launching an 鈥渁ll-agency鈥 effort to identify all causes of autism, involving the National Institutes of Health, the FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
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Scientists, doctors and researchers have attributed increased rates of autism to greater awareness of the disorder and the newer, wide-ranging 鈥渟pectrum鈥 used to issue diagnoses for people with milder expressions of autism. It鈥檚 hard to tell if there may be additional factors behind the increase.
The Trump administration has been under immense pressure from diverse Make America Healthy Again movement to provide answers on the causes of the marked increase in autism cases in the U.S. in recent years.
Experts say the rise in cases is mainly due to a new definition for the disorder that now includes mild cases on a 鈥渟pectrum鈥 and better diagnoses. They say there is no single cause to the disorder and say the rhetoric appears to ignore and undermine decades of science into the genetic and environmental factors that can play a role.
The announcement is the latest step the administration, driven by Kennedy and his supporters, has taken to reshape America鈥檚 public health landscape.
Beyond , the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been over 碍别苍苍别诲测鈥檚 vaccine policies. An influential immunization panel stocked by Kennedy with figures who have been critical of vaccines last week for COVID-19 and other diseases.
Trump on Sunday evening teased Monday鈥檚 announcement as a big one, telling reporters, 鈥淚 think we found an answer to autism.鈥 Experts say that oversells what would be possible from a presidential administration in its first year. They insist to conclusively identify whether and how environmental factors may play a role in the disorder.
Kennedy for years has that vaccines could be responsible for rising rates of autism, which affects today, according to the CDC. Scientists, doctors and researchers have attributed that increase instead to greater awareness of the disorder and the newer, wide-ranging 鈥渟pectrum鈥 used to issue diagnoses for people with milder expressions of autism. It鈥檚 hard to tell if there may be additional factors behind the increase.
