Trump And RFK Jr. Announce “Potential” Link Between Tylenol And Autism
on Sep 22, 2025
Trump And RFK Jr. Point To Tylenol As Significant Cause Of Autism
“Tomorrow, we’re going to have one of the biggest announcements — really, medically, I think — in the history of our country,” President Donald Trump said at the memorial for Charlie Kirk on September 21. “I think we found an answer to autism. How about that?”
Continuing, Trump said, “You know, 20 years ago, one in 10,000 were born with autism … The most recent survey says one in 12.”
While Trump’s statistics were specific to California alone — compared to the CDC’s national surveys which have it closer to one in 31 — this subject was brought up as Trump noted the significance of Charlie Kirk in the bringing together of the Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 2024 presidential campaigns.
This merging of Republican and Independent candidates brought about the Make America Healthy Again movement.
Throughout RFK Jr.’s campaign as an independent candidate for president, discovering the origins of autism was a key goal of his run for the White House.
As secretary of Health and Human Services in the Trump administration, RFK Jr. has been able to pursue questions such as autism, as well as rollout a ban on synthetic food dyes.
The announcement made on Monday, September 22, was in keeping with his passion for improving the quality of life for Americans, but remains a controversial subject.
Saying he had been waiting for this announcement for 20 years, Trump prefaced his comments by saying that everything is not “100% understood or known.”
The News Conference On Autism
Meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on September 22, Trump was joined by RFK Jr., as well as FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary and CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz.
“Today, we’re delighted to be joined by America’s top medical and public health professionals as we announce historic steps to confront the crisis of autism,” Trump said, describing it as a “horrible crisis.”
Continuing, Trump shared that about two decades ago, RFK Jr. had met with him to discuss Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
“By the way, I think there are certain groups of people that don’t take vaccines and don’t take any pills that have no autism,” Trump said, turning to RFK Jr. for confirmation.
RFK Jr. replied that there are some studies which indicate the Amish community has no population of autism.
Moving into the details, Trump said acetaminophen, commonly referred to as Tylenol, when taken during pregnancy “can be associated with a very increased risk of autism.”
Trump added, “So taking Tylenol is not good.”
This comes as pregnant women are already advised not to take Advil, or ibuprofen, with NIH stating:
“There have been some reports that [non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, like ibuprofen] use in the second half of pregnancy might affect the fetal kidneys and the amount of amniotic fluid (fluid that surrounds the fetus in the uterus).”
Later in the news conference, RFK Jr. noted it is still a “potential” link between Tylenol and autism, but that the FDA and other departments would continue providing updates on their research progress.
As of September 22, Trump said the FDA will be notifying physicians of this research, “strongly recommending that women limit Tylenol use during pregnancy unless medically necessary.”
Such medical necessities for Tylenol include having a high fever during pregnancy, advising that it should be used “sparingly.”
Further, Tylenol should not be used at, likely, any stage of pregnancy, or given to children, Trump said.
“All pregnant women should talk to their doctors for more information about limiting the use of this medication while pregnant,” Trump stated. “Ideally, you don’t take it all, but if you to — if you can’t tough it or there’s a problem — you’re gonna end up doing it.”
On regularly scheduled vaccinations for children, Trump said there may be future updates to how vaccines are administered, with shots spread across four or five visits instead of one to three.
With mumps, measles, and chicken pox, Trump said there are sometimes complications which have been observed when the vaccines are administered all at once.
Speaking on Hepatitis B, Trump said, “Wait until the baby is 12 years old and formed and take Hepatitis B, and I think if you do those things … it’ll be a revolution, in a positive sense, in the country.”
The FDA, he said, will be updating labels on an existing drug — called leucovorin, which is primarily used to treat cancer and anemia patients — to reflect “potential benefits in reducing some autism symptoms,” which he said could “give hope to the many parents with autistic children that it may be possible to improve their lives.”
Leucovorin, when used to address cerebral folate deficiency and autism symptoms, is not a cure, but rather a treatment.
The FDA said in a press release that cerebral folate deficiency is “a neurological condition that affects folate (a vitamin essential for brain health) transport into the brain,” with individuals who have cerebral folate deficiency being “observed to have developmental delays with autistic features … seizures, and problems with movement and coordination.”
According to a press release from HHS, this “potential treatment for speech-related deficits associated with ASD” is “the first FDA-recognized therapeutic for children with cerebral folate deficiency and autistic symptoms.”
The press release went on to note that the FDA will authorize leucovorin “treatment for children with ASD with continued use if children show language, social, or adaptive gains,” adding, “Following the label update for ASD, state Medicaid programs will be able to cover leucovorin for the indication of ASD, in partnership with [CMS].”
Additionally, NIH will “launch confirmatory trials and new research into the impact of leucovorin including safety studies.”
This, RFK Jr. said, is in keeping with his order to HHS back in April, with the FDA, NIH, CMS, and CDC following in suit, “to launch an unprecedented all-agency effort to identify all causes of autism, including toxic and pharmaceutical exposures.”
Stating that he is working to have the health departments of the United States no longer politicized, RFK Jr. said:
“President Trump believes that we should be listening to these mothers instead of gaslighting and marginalizing them, like prior administrations. Some of our friends say that we should ‘believe all women,’ but some of these same people have been silencing and demonizing these mothers for three decades, because research on a potential link between autism and vaccines has been actively suppressed in the past, it will take time for an honest look at this topic by scientists.”
RFK Jr. added, “I want to reassure the people in the autism community that we will be uncompromising and relentless in our search for answers. We will perform the studies that should’ve been performed 25 years ago. Whatever the answer is, we will tell you what we find.”
Background
Back on April 16, RFK Jr. held a press conference to announce his department’s pursuit of an answer to the origins of autism.
There, he leaned on the latest data collected from 2022 by the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network (ADDM).
The ADDM’s date is derived from a survey conducted by the CDC every two years, which estimated in the year 2000 that 1 in every 150 eight-year-olds had ASD.
By 2020, the CDC reported that figure was estimated to be 1 in every 36 eight-year-olds.
The newest survey, from 2022 data, estimates 1 in 31 eight-year-olds have ASD.
“This is part of an unrelenting upward trend,” RFK Jr. said at the April news conference. “Most cases, now, are severe … About 25% of the kids who are diagnosed with autism are non-verbal, non-toilet trained, and have other stereotypical features.”
From there, he gave September 2025 as a projected deadline for presenting the American people with preliminary findings regarding ASD.
“We will follow the science, no matter what it says,” said RFK Jr, noting he will direct HHS to establish research grants as part of an effort to understand the environmental toxins and other factors which may contribute to a rise in autism.
Part of this move to initiate new studies is a reaction to the present pace of research, with RFK Jr. stating, “We don’t wait two years to react to a measles epidemic, or any kind of infectious disease … We shouldn’t have to do that for diabetes or autism.”
RELATED: RFK Jr. Shares Autism Research Findings, “The Epidemic Is Real”
Autism Speaks Responds To The Trump Administration’s Autism Announcement
Autism Speaks, which is an organization dedicated to advocating for individuals with autism, was among the organizations which responded to the Trump administration’s September 22 news conference.
Starting by acknowledging that “women who are pregnant and families considering new therapies for autism should always consult with their doctor,” Autism Speaks wrote in a statement:
“While some observational studies have suggested possible associations between Tylenol (also known as acetaminophen) and autism, it is important to note that they have not – to date – proven causation, which we know to be influenced by many other factors such as genetics, parental health and environment.”
Noting that larger, well-controlled clinical trials of leucovorin need to be conducted, Autism Speaks said leucovorin “shows promise in improving speech in minimally verbal children.”
Further, the organization wrote:
“At Autism Speaks, we have been encouraged by the recent, increased focus on autism and have consistently advocated for substantive spending on the research and services needed to improve the lives of autistic people. We acknowledge today’s commitment and the investment being directed toward further research and resources, and express our sincere hope that these efforts will translate into true, improved quality of life for those with autism.”
In closing, Autism Speaks urged the Trump administration to dedicate its resources “toward advancing new and innovative areas of research, so the community benefits from fresh insights, rather than revisiting questions that have been well studied, including vaccines and autism.”
