Tenpenny Monday Minute

Today's press conference: Trump and team announce first FDA-labeled drug to treat autism.

Sep 22, 2025

Today, President Trump held a press conference on the long-awaited autism news expected in September from HHS Secretary RFK Jr.

Trump started by saying that instead of attacking RFK Jr. and his staff, we should be grateful to those asking questions about autism. The team stated that autism had increased five-fold over the last 25 years, to 1 in 31 children (and 1 in 12 boys). The President vowed to get to the bottom of the crisis. “This rate is not sustainable for the country.”

Trump was joined by RFK Jr., Marty Makary (FDA), Jay Bhattacharya (NIH) and Dr. Mehmet Oz (CMS). While today’s focus was not on vaccines, two other important findings were discussed: leucovorin and acetaminophen. Here are my quick takeaways from today, with more detail to come in the near term.

1) Leucovorin
Folate deficiency in a child’s brain can lead to autism. The HHS has identified a promising treatment called leucovorin, a vitamin also known as folinic acid, a reduced form of folic acid. The FDA is changing the label on the drug to make it available to children. In peer reviewed studies, 60% of children had improved verbal communications when taking leucovorin. Many had marked improvement, according to RFK Jr. FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said that he has already talked to drug manufacturers of leucovorin and all have agreed to ramp up production. He stated that Medicaid and CHIP programs will cover it, and believes that private insurance will rapidly follow CMS’s lead.

2) Don’t Take Tylenol

Trump strongly reiterated the message that pregnant women should not take Tylenol (acetaminophen) nor should they give it to infants, particularly after vaccines. The team cited the potential for acetaminophen to result in adverse developmental outcomes in children such as ADHD and altered brain development, as shown in major studies like the Boston Birth Cohort, Nurses’ Health Study, and a Mount Sinai meta-analysis review of the literature. FDA is taking strong action: issuing a physician’s notice about acetaminophen, implementing a nationwide information campaign, and requiring a FDA labeling change.

3) What About Vaccines?

This is the first of many press conferences, with more to come from this team. These agencies are banding together to study all causes of autism, including toxic exposures, and to identify the etiology of the autism epidemic. The team criticized government efforts to date, stating that many of the studies being conducted now should have been done 30 years ago. For example, they cited the “entirely fruitless efforts” of studying the genetic components of autism without studying environmental and other factors: “It’s like studying genetic lung cancer without studying cigarettes.”

The NIH research team is testing multiple hypotheses. No topic is off limit. Although the data is not fully “in” on the vaccines, the President spoke strongly on several topics, and seemed to give a prelude of what is to come:

a) the accomplishment of removing mercury and alum from vaccines
b) Trump wants to see vaccines like MMR be unbundled and given separately, citing the known bad effects of the MMR vaccine
c) Trump wants to see HepB vaccine given to kids at age 12, NOT at birth
d) Trump wants parents to space vaccines out over a 4 to 5 year period, rather than giving so many in the first year

The bottom line is that we are trying to solve one overarching question: Why are our children getting sick so fast?

RFK JR: “Some 40 to 70% of mothers of children with autism believe their child was injured by a vaccine.”

Of course research on the potential link between autism and vaccines has been actively suppressed in the past. This team is identifying root causes to win the public trust. Let’s support them. There’s more to come.