US President Donald Trump has linked a common painkiller taken during pregnancy to higher rates of autism in children.

After teasing the announcement during a speech at Charlie Kirk's memorial service on Sunday, Mr Trump warned the American people: "Don't take Tylenol."

Tylenol is a brand name for paracetamol, manufactured by pharmaceutical company Kenvue.

In addition to the warning, the White House confirmed it would be increasing the production of Leucovorin, typically used by cancer patients to lessen the side effects of other medication.

US President Donald Trump linked a common painkiller taken during pregnancy to higher rates of autism in children

Early trials have indicated that Leucovorin could be helpful for autistic children to improve speech and understanding others.

Mr Trump told parents not to give paracetamol to their children, adding: "Ideally, you don't take it at all".

Earlier this year, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a report revealing one in 31 children in the US are impacted by autism.

Its prevalence in American boys is as high as one in 20 - and in the state of California, the figure rises to just over one in 12.

US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr pointed towards the incredibly low rates of autism detected in the Amish community

The report also showed a dramatic rise in autism cases, surging by almost 400 per cent since 2000.

In a press conference on Monday, the US President said: "The meteoric rise in autism is among the most alarming public health developments in history. There's never been anything like this.

"So taking Tylenol is not good. For this reason, they are strongly recommending that women limit Tylenol use during pregnancy unless medically necessary."

Mr Trump also expressed concern over giving babies and young children too many vaccines, adding: "It's too much liquid, too many different things are going into that baby at too big a number the size of this thing.

"When you look at it, it's like 80 different vaccines and beyond vaccines, 80, and you give that to a little kid."

US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr pointed towards low rates of autism in the Amish community - which boasts far lower rates of prescription drug use compared to the general population - as possible evidence that the drug may be behind the rise.

Mr Trump then added: “I think I can say that there are certain groups of people that don’t take vaccines and don’t take any pills, that have no autism."

RFK Jr had previously suggested America's alarming autism rates could be explained by "toxins".

In April, he said: "This is coming from an environmental toxin, and somebody made a profit by putting that environmental toxin into our air, our water, our medicines, our food.

US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary revealed: 'We now have data we cannot ignore'

"And it's to their benefit to say: 'Oh, to normalise it, to say all this is all normal, it's always been here.' That's not good for our country."

US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Marty Makary said at Monday's press conference that "we now have data we cannot ignore".

Drug firm Kenvue refuted claims that its product could be linked to autism, saying: "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 with the health risk this poses for expecting mothers."