Trump targets MMR vaccine in new order

Trump tied his comments to autism, saying he wanted the MMR vaccine split up in part because of what he suggested could be a higher risk of the disorder. Kennedy, who has long questioned vaccine safety, did not make a direct claim that vaccines cause autism. Instead, he said the increase has been seen in children born around 1989 or later and argued that something changed in the mid-1990s, which he described as an environmental exposure or toxin.

The announcement fits into a much broader national fight over childhood vaccination, one that has grown more intense as public health officials, parents, and political leaders clash over vaccine schedules and the causes of autism. The CDC’s move in January to reduce the number of recommended childhood vaccines from 17 to 11 was already a major shift, and Trump’s order now places that change at the center of a new political and public health debate.

That debate matters because the childhood vaccine schedule affects families across the country and shapes how doctors, schools, and public health agencies talk to parents about protection from disease. Trump’s comments also ensure that the MMR vaccine, a routine part of pediatric care for generations, will stay in the spotlight as his administration pushes its new approach. For American parents, the next question is how federal agencies and medical professionals will respond to the order and the administration’s message about childhood immunization.