Trump issues blistering new Tylenol warning after linking drug to autism
By Stephen M. Lepore
Daily Mail
Oct 26, 2025
Donald Trump said that young children should not be given Tylenol, as he once again urged pregnant not to take the drug after publicly linking it to autism
Donald Trump has once again warned Americans against the risks of Tylenol, claiming young children and pregnant women should not take the everyday drug in a furious post online.
The president first raised concerns about Tylenol and links to autism at a press conference on September 22 with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr.
In a post to Truth Social on Sunday, Trump reiterated his guidance about using Tylenol as well as various childhood vaccines.
'Pregnant Women, DON’T USE TYLENOL UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY, DON’T GIVE TYLENOL TO YOUR YOUNG CHILD FOR VIRTUALLY ANY REASON,' he wrote.
Trump also advised that the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine be separated into three different shots. Typically, they are combined into one.
The president also wrote that the vaccine for chicken pox should also be taken separately, as they are usually given at the same times as the MMR shot.
Trump also said that children should be given the vaccine for Hepatitis B at 12 years or older.
That shot is currently given in three parts in the first 18 months of a child's life.
The president first made the claim at a press conference with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr , with experts having said it could cost Tylenol up to $100million this year
He ended by saying that children should be given their vaccines in 'five separate medical visits' to avoid potential vaccine injury.
Trump's post included a link to a story that accused the Food & Drug Administration of having 'stayed silent as internal reports of potential Tylenol risks piled up.'
Daily Mail has reached out to Tylenol's parent company, Kenvue, for comment.
Trump wrote an almost identical post on September 26, four days after the press conference with Kennedy.
On September 22, Trump announced at the White House that taking Tylenol during pregnancy 'can be associated with a very increased risk of autism'.
Trump stressed multiple times: 'Don't take Tylenol.'
He also instructed pregnant women to 'tough it out' and avoid taking the medication when they're sick.
Tylenol is known as acetaminophen in the US and paracetamol around the world.
On September 22, Trump announced at the White House that taking Tylenol during pregnancy 'can be associated with a very increased risk of autism'
Tylenol is known as acetaminophen in the US and paracetamol around the world
Kenvue previously told the Daily Mail: 'We believe independent, sound science clearly shows that taking acetaminophen does not cause autism. We strongly disagree with any suggestion otherwise and are deeply concerned about the health risks and confusion this poses for expecting mothers and parents.
'Acetaminophen is the safest pain reliever option for pregnant women as needed throughout their entire pregnancy.
'Without it, women face dangerous choices: suffer through conditions like fever that are potentially harmful to both mom and baby or use riskier alternatives. High fevers and pain are widely recognized as potential risks to a pregnancy if left untreated.'
The company added: 'The facts are that over a decade of rigorous research, endorsed by leading medical professionals and global health regulators, confirms there is no credible evidence linking acetaminophen to autism.
'We stand with the many public health and medical professionals who have reviewed this science and agree.'
In April, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that autism prevalence in the US had increased from one in 36 children to one in 31.
Kennedy previously said that the 'autism epidemic' was 'running rampant'.
Speaking alongside Kennedy, Trump had also criticized America's 'disgraceful' vaccine schedule, despite the link between autism and vaccines being long disproven.
It came as the administration unveiled the results of a federal review spearheaded by the health secretary, who earlier this year declared 'autism destroys families'.
The official White House account on X republished the post alongside an image of President Trump holding up a hat saying he was 'right about everything'
Trump called the rise of autism in the US 'one of most alarming medical crises in history,' citing a 400 per cent surge over the last several decades.
He said: 'You know it's something artificial.
'With Tylenol, don't take it. There's not an alternative to that.'
Additionally, Trump went on to praise the CDC's move to stop recommending the combined MMR and varicella vaccine and urged Americans to break up the MMR vaccine into three separate shots because mixing them 'could be a problem'.
'I've heard bad things about [the MMR] personally,' Trump said, despite also calling himself a 'big believer in vaccines'.
On the flip side, Kennedy touted a development in autism improvement: the $2.50-per-pill drug leucovorin, which is derived from folic acid.
While research on leucovorin is also mixed, doctors specializing in the relationship between the drug and autism told the Daily Mail the administration's focus on it 'gives hopes' to families across the country.
Advocacy groups such as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists have warned that pregnant women should take Tylenol if they're suffering fever
Tylenol faced further controversy when the White House's X account reposted a March 7, 2017 post from Tylenol that read: 'We actually don't recommend using any of our products while pregnant. Thank you for taking the time to voice your concerns today.'
The White House's comment was accompanied by a photo of Trump showing off a 'TRUMP WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING' baseball cap, which the US leader recently also mentioned to the United Nations General Assembly.
Kenvue said about the post: 'This eight-year-old consumer response is incomplete and did not address our full guidance on the safe use of Tylenol which has not changed.'
The company added that it recommended pregnant women to not take any over-the-counter medication - including acetaminophen - without talking to their doctor first.
However, the damage to one of the most prominent brands in American medicine may already be done.
Eric Schiffer, a crisis PR expert, told the Daily Mail that Trump’s comments could cost Tylenol up to $100 million this year.
He said: ‘With Trump attacking, it is like having your brand dragged across asphalt from the moving car.’
Schiffer expects ‘scared checkout baskets’ for 6-12 months as Tylenol takes ‘body blows from hell’.
‘I think you’ll see a bleed, a checkout with new parents, and then the lawsuits will have additional massive incoming missiles,’ he said.
Schiffer, the CEO of Reputation Management Consultants, added that he would advise Tylenol to ‘lead with clinicians, not marketers’.
He would feature pediatric physicians ‘doing the work’ on social media platforms frequented by young mothers-to-be to ‘counter message’ the negative connotations with Tylenol after the president's comments.
Schiffer said: ‘I’d make sure the data is clear, and I would get their facts out via the pediatrics and OB-GYNs. I’d be deploying OB ambassadors on TikTok and YouTube shorts, and tackle anxiety where it breathes.’
A $50million - $100million hit is expected to be taken by the company this year, Schiffer predicted, but he does not believe Tylenol to be going through a ‘Bud Light moment’.
Noa Gafni, faculty at Columbia and New York University, also told the Daily Mail that Tylenol would suffer ‘significant’ consequences following Trump’s remarks.
She said: ‘I’m sure this will impact Tylenol financially, not just in the short term, but potentially in the long term, and the reason for that is because it got caught in the culture wars.’
Gafni also pointed to the Bud Light boycott, in which conservatives stopped buying the beer after the brand collaborated on an ad campaign with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
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