In a recent address from the Roosevelt Room of the White House, President Trump conveyed a clear message: the issue of autism is profoundly personal to him. This esteemed setting, just steps from the Oval Office, underscored the gravity he attributes to the topic.
“I always had very strong feelings about autism,” Mr. Trump stated, revealing he had anticipated such an event for two decades. He later emphasized the significance of his efforts, proclaiming, “I’ve stopped seven different wars. I’ve saved millions of lives. I’ve done a lot of things. This will be as important as any single thing I’ve done.”
For approximately an hour, with his health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and other senior health officials present, Mr. Trump delivered passionate — though scientifically unverified — remarks about what he termed the “alarming” increase in autism diagnoses throughout history.
His comments included scientifically flawed medical advice regarding vaccines and direct recommendations to pregnant women against taking acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, which he suggested might cause autism in infants. He also advocated for spreading out vaccine doses for babies, a practice that contradicts the current standard immunization schedule. Mr. Trump acknowledged that his statements went beyond the carefully worded remarks of Mr. Kennedy and Dr. Marty Makary, the Food and Drug Administration commissioner, leading him to admit he didn’t possess all the facts.
“We’re making these statements, and I’m making them out front, and I’m making them loud, and I’m making them strongly, not to take Tylenol, not to take it, just don’t take it unless it’s absolutely necessary — and there’s not too many cases where that will be the case,” Mr. Trump declared.
He added, “And again, what’s the worst? The worst is nothing can happen,” despite the fact that fevers during pregnancy can pose risks to both mother and fetus.
Mr. Trump’s engagement with the topic of autism dates back to at least December 2007, when he hosted leaders of the advocacy group Autism Speaks at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. At that time, he speculated that babies were receiving too many shots at once. Months later, he shared that he and his wife, Melania, had opted for a slower vaccine schedule for their son Barron, then around two years old.
“What we’ve done with Barron, we’ve taken him on a very slow process,” Mr. Trump explained. “He gets one shot at a time, then we wait a few months and give him another shot, the old-fashioned way.”
At that time, Mr. Trump was the host of NBC’s reality show “The Apprentice.” Bob Wright, the network’s former chairman, and his wife, Suzanne, who are grandparents to a child with autism, had established Autism Speaks two years prior. They requested Mr. Trump host a fundraiser, featuring singer Lionel Richie, for the group in March 2008.
Even though the 1998 medical journal article that initiated speculation about a link between vaccines and autism had not yet been retracted, Dr. David Mandell, an autism specialist at the University of Pennsylvania, confirmed that ample scientific evidence existed at the time to disprove any such connection.
Referring to Andrew Wakefield, the British doctor and lead author of the 1998 study, Dr. Mandell stated, “With regard to Wakefield, within four years it was clear that he had faked his data and large, good, epidemiological studies were coming out showing no link.”
Nevertheless, many parents remained concerned, noted Alison Singer, who was then the executive vice president of Autism Speaks. Ms. Singer, who departed Autism Speaks in 2009 to establish the Autism Science Foundation, affirmed that the scientific debate surrounding vaccines and autism has been settled, with no link found.
She recalls the president raising the subject during a brunch at Mar-a-Lago where he and Mrs. Trump greeted her and the Wrights.
“Melania was carrying Barron, he was a baby, and even at that time, Donald Trump did talk about his interest and concerns around vaccines,” she recounted, adding, “I do believe that he comes to the question of trying to find the cause of autism legitimately.”
Mr. Trump may also have political motives for addressing the autism issue. He is well aware that Mr. Kennedy, who has also repeatedly asserted a link between vaccines and autism, played a role in his election.
“I think this is both personal and political” for Mr. Trump, observed Craig Snyder, a Washington, D.C.-based lobbyist who represented Autism Speaks in 2007 and now works for the Autism Science Foundation.
“On the personal side, he’s thought this was a priority issue for a very long time,” Mr. Snyder said. Referring to Mr. Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again movement, he added, “And on the political side, I think that he believes that MAHA supporters, Kennedy supporters are a really important part of his coalition. They are a significant reason he won the election. So this is under the rubric of fulfilling a campaign promise.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately one in 31 American 8-year-olds are diagnosed with autism, a significant rise from one in 150 in 2007.
“When I was growing up, autism wasn’t really a factor,” Mr. Trump told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel at the time. “And now all of a sudden, it’s an epidemic. Everybody has their theory, and my theory is the shots. They’re getting these massive injections at one time. I think it’s the vaccinations.”
In the nearly two decades since the fundraiser, Mr. Trump has consistently voiced concerns about autism and vaccines. He addressed the topic on social media in 2014 and again during a presidential debate in 2015. “I’ve seen it, a beautiful child, went to have the vaccine,” Mr. Trump recalled. He claimed that a week later, the child developed a fever and subsequently became autistic.
In 2017, just before his inauguration, Mr. Trump met at Mar-a-Lago with a group of autism advocates who share the belief that vaccines are responsible.
Mr. Trump reiterated a similar narrative on Monday. He spoke, as he has in the past, of an anonymous woman who worked for the Trump Organization, who told him she had “lost” her son after he was vaccinated and experienced a high fever.
“I’ve lost him, sir, he’s gone,” Mr. Trump recounted, quoting the woman. “And then I saw the boy. It was a whole — it was so tragic to see.”
Many parents of children with autism expressed enthusiasm for Mr. Trump’s interest. They have long campaigned for increased federal funding for research into autism’s causes and potential treatments. Two mothers of children with autism appeared alongside Mr. Trump on Monday to express their appreciation.
However, Ms. Singer noted a significant irony in Monday’s announcement.
“All of us who are in the advocacy world and who love people with autism had high hopes that the president and R.F.K. Jr. were serious when they said they wanted to find the causes of autism and that they wanted gold standard autism science,” Ms. Singer explained.
“But what we heard today was not gold standard science,” she concluded. “It wasn’t even science. Instead, President Trump talked about what he thinks and feels without offering any scientific evidence.”