White House says Trump wants ‘answers’ on autism increase as he is ready to announce Tylenol link: Live updates

President Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., will appear at the White House any moment for remarks where they are expected to claim there is evidence of a link between autism and the use of the pain reliever acetaminophen during pregnancy.

Studies, major medical groups, and autism organizations have refuted the claim that such medicines are a provable “cause” of autism.

You can watch the officials’ full remarks live on YouTube via The Independent channel.

The Trump administration’s incoming autism announcement is the latest in a string of health-related clashes that have seen Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., at odds with medical experts in- and outside of government.

Last week, former CDC Director Susan Monarez testified in the Senate that Kennedy pushed her out in August because she was “holding the line on scientific integrity” by refusing to rubber stamp firings and the administration’s preferred changes on childhood vaccine recommendations.

Monarez’s ouster in August prompted four top officials at the CDC to resign.

The Autism Society, a longstanding nonprofit that advocates for public policy and workforce access for autistic people, is “deeply concerned” about the Trump administration’s reported intention to claim the use of acetaminophen during pregnancy is a “cause” for autism.

The group, in a statement to The Independent, emphasized that autism is “not a single condition with a single cause” but rather a “diverse and complex, shaped by genetic, biological, and environmental factors.”

“Premature or overstated claims risk retraumatizing families, spreading misinformation, and undermining public health,” it added, arguing that “alarmist claims” could deter pregnant women from safely treating fever or pain, which itself puts babies at risk.

The society pointed to a 2024 JAMA study of more than 2 million children that found no causal link between acetaminophen and autism once genetic and familial factors were considered.

Kennedy, who has long spread vaccine misinformation, has previously pushed a discredited theory that routine childhood vaccines were the cause of autism. After becoming HHS secretary, he pledged to determine the causes of autism by September, calling it an “epidemic.”

Kennedy has recently claimed that “interventions to improve health” were “almost certainly” responsible for autism, and alleged that many autistic children had been “fully functional” before they “regressed.”

However, decades of research has shown no direct connection between autism and acetaminophen, which is commonly known by the brand name Tylenol.

Researchers have identified other potential factors that could increase a risk of autism — including environmental conditions, the parents’ age and the health of the mother during pregnancy.

Scientists and major health groups have repeatedly stressed that common vaccines do not “cause” or contribute to autism.

The links to Tylenol are tenuous and do not correlate with causation, according to extensive research published as early as last year and earlier this year.

In fact, health experts warn that untreated fevers during pregnancy can increase the risk for miscarriages, preterm birth and other problems.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently found that 1 in 31 8-year-old children was identified with autism in the 16 communities the agency had studied.

That marks a roughly 10 to 20 percent increase every two years within the last 20 years.

There have also been widely successful public health programs, including more wellness visits and screenings with infants as well as more awareness of the condition among parents and physicians.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt would not say whether the administration is relying on new data about Tylenol use ahead of today’s announcement when faced with questions about whether Trump’s actions have the “potential to confuse pregnant women.”

“I think women for many years, in fact for decades, have been confused by the rapid increase in autism in this country,” he said, calling autism a “chronic disease epidemic plaguing” the country.

“They want answers,” she said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday that Trump will be addressing the “childhood autism epidemic” in remarks later today, following reports that the president intends to link Tylenol use during pregnancy to autism.

She called today’s event a “powerful display” of how the administration is “championing gold-standard science.”

Major health groups including the Food and Drug Administration, the European Medicines Agency and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, among others, have not found such evidence.

Maternal-fetal medicine experts have also argued that existing guidance already tells pregnant women to speak with their physicians and use Tylenol and other drugs sparingly.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is holding a briefing at 1 p.m. ET.