During a Cabinet meeting, President Donald Trump alluded to a possible “artificial” cause for autism.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the US Health and Human Services Secretary, has announced a significant federal initiative to pinpoint the causes of what he termed the “autism epidemic,” with results anticipated by September 2025.
Speaking at a televised Cabinet meeting with President Trump on Thursday, Kennedy, previously criticized for promoting vaccine conspiracy theories, stated that the new research would involve “hundreds of scientists from around the world.”
“By September, we will know what has caused the autism epidemic, and we’ll be able to eliminate those exposures,” Kennedy pledged. He emphasized the project’s urgency, noting a significant rise in childhood autism diagnoses over recent decades, from “one in 10,000 when I was a kid.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 1 in 36 US children are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, a rise often attributed to increased awareness and broader diagnostic criteria.
“That is a horrible statistic, isn’t it? There’s got to be something artificial out there that’s doing this,” Trump told Kennedy.
“If you can come up with that answer – where you stop taking something, you stop eating something, or maybe it’s a shot – but something’s causing it,” Trump added.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) already invests over $300 million annually in autism research, mainly focusing on genetic factors and prenatal environmental influences. Kennedy did not specify the scope of the new “massive testing and research effort” or which specific exposures would be targeted.
Kennedy, the founder of the anti-vaccine group Children’s Health Defense, has become well-known in the US for questioning the safety and effectiveness of childhood vaccinations and promoting the idea that vaccines are linked to autism—a claim largely refuted by the scientific community. He also strongly criticized the World Health Organization’s Covid-19 response measures, including lockdowns and the expedited introduction of experimental vaccines.
Despite his controversial reputation, Kennedy denies being anti-vaccine, mentioning that his own children are vaccinated. During his confirmation hearings, he stated that he supports stricter safety testing and more thorough vaccine studies.
After Kennedy endorsed Trump’s campaign last year, the president promised to give him considerable authority over healthcare policy, saying he would let Kennedy “go wild.”