The scene at the White House yesterday evoked the early days of the Covid pandemic: President Trump, standing at a lectern, offered Americans medical advice that contradicted scientific research.
This time, though, the subject was not hydroxychloroquine or injected bleach. It was a rise in autism diagnoses — and a purported connection to Tylenol and vaccines.
For years, scientists have studied a possible link between pregnant mothers’ use of acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, and neurological conditions like autism and A.D.H.D. The findings are complex. Some studies suggest a link; others do not. None have found proof of a causal relationship.
Yet Trump spoke as if the connection were definitive. He instructed pregnant women to avoid the drug. “Don’t take Tylenol. Don’t take it. Fight like hell not to take it,” he said.
Trump also said that he and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, had long discussed the possibility that vaccines are linked to autism. “They pump so much stuff into babies, it’s a disgrace,” he said.
Dozens of studies over the last three decades have failed to find any link between vaccines and autism. Scientists say the idea has been debunked.
Fact-check
Much of what Trump said during his press conference was untrue. Here’s a fact-check.
Vaccines: The president said that the childhood immunization schedule “loads up” children with too many vaccines — as many as 80 different shots.
The truth: Children generally receive roughly 30 vaccine doses before the age of 18, according to the C.D.C.’s schedule. And there is no evidence for the idea that vaccines overwhelm their immune system or lead to conditions like autism.
Hepatitis B: Trump said the disease was sexually transmitted — and that children should not be vaccinated against it until they are 12.
The truth: The virus is transmitted sexually. But it can also spread through drops of blood on surfaces or skin, and it is highly transmissible during delivery, so doctors recommended the vaccine at birth.
Tylenol: Speaking about the risks for pregnant women, Trump said, “There is no downside to not taking it.”
The truth: Doctors already advise pregnant women to take Tylenol sparingly. But there are some important uses. A high fever, for example, can endanger both the mother and the baby.
Why now?
Research on acetaminophen use during pregnancy is not new, as my colleague Azeen Ghorayshi, a science reporter, recently explained. So why did the White House make this announcement now?
Last month, scholars published a review of 46 existing studies. Taken together, they suggest there is evidence for a connection between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and neurodevelopmental disorders.
Those findings circulated widely on social media, including among autism parent groups, many of whom consider Kennedy a champion of their cause.
But the researchers cautioned people about inferring too much: “We cannot answer the question about causation,” Diddier Prada, an epidemiologist at Mt. Sinai’s medical school and the first author on the review, told The Times.
Most doctors believe autism cannot be easily attributed to a single cause; rather, they say, it involves a complex mix of genetic and environmental factors.
The F.D.A.’s notice to physicians yesterday about a possible link between acetaminophen and autism was far more measured than Trump’s riff. It noted, accurately, that “a causal relationship has not been established” and that the matter was “an ongoing area of scientific debate.”
More coverage
The F.D.A. plans to modify the label of leucovorin, a vitamin B-based drug used to treat side effects of chemotherapy, so that it can be used as a treatment for autism symptoms. It has been studied only in a few dozen research participants.
Trump said he wanted to end the use of aluminum in vaccines. Kennedy has warned about the ingredient for years, though scientists say it is a safe preservative.
Read more about taking Tylenol when you’re pregnant.
PALESTINIAN STATEHOOD
France said yesterday it now recognized Palestine as a state, declaring that “the time has come.” About 10 other countries, including Britain and Canada, have also recently done so. Why is this happening now? Aaron Boxerman, a Jerusalem-based reporter, explains what changed.
Then. For years, Israel’s Western allies generally put off recognizing a Palestinian state. Israel argued that they would be meddling in a peace process between two adversaries. Maybe they could use recognition as a carrot to induce Palestinian concessions — demobilizing armed groups or swapping certain tracts of land, for instance.
This was plausible. Benjamin Netanyahu had said he would be willing to negotiate Palestinian independence.
Now. Israeli leaders today rule out a future Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu boasts about blocking it, saying it would simply help Hamas, which attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people. His political allies say they hope to rule Gaza and build Jewish settlements there. “For years, I have prevented the creation of that terrorist state, against tremendous pressure at home and abroad,” Netanyahu said on Sunday.
In response, Western nations see no reason to hold back. They won’t complicate Middle East negotiations, because there are none. Although recognizing statehood won’t bring about a sovereign Palestinian government, foreign leaders now hope it will strengthen the chance of a diplomatic, negotiated peace — and weaken hard-line groups like Hamas.
Related: Aaron explains why a Palestinian state still seems more remote than ever.
THE LATEST NEWS
Jimmy Kimmel
ABC said it would put Jimmy Kimmel’s show back on air tonight, less than a week after suspending it.
The response to Kimmel’s prospective return was predictably partisan. Democrats celebrated. Conservatives denounced it.
Almost everyone seemed to have something to say — even “The View” weighed in, criticizing Trump. Kimmel hasn’t commented yet.
Some ABC affiliates are expected to not air the show.
Justice
The Supreme Court justices allowed President Trump to fire a leader of the Federal Trade Commission.
The White House denied that the president’s border czar accepted a bag with $50,000 in cash last September, contradicting news reports.
A lawyer loyal to Trump was sworn in as the federal prosecutor tasked with investigating James Comey, the former F.B.I. director, and Letitia James, New York’s attorney general.
More on Politics
Trump signed an order targeting antifa, the left-wing antifascist movement, and threatening “investigatory and prosecutorial action” against its supporters.
Internal documents, reviewed by The Times, show how Trump appointees have weakened enforcement of a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination in housing.
African countries are accepting U.S. deportees from other countries to court the Trump administration.
International
Egypt pardoned its most prominent political prisoner, who has spent most of the past 12 years behind bars.
The Trump administration pledged to support Argentina’s struggling economy, throwing a lifeline to President Javier Milei, a Trump ally.
Today is the big day of debates at the U.N. General Assembly. Trump will speak.
Other Big Stories
Errol Musk has been accused of sexually abusing five of his children and stepchildren since 1993, a Times investigation found. Errol is Elon Musk’s father; family members have appealed to Elon for help.
A young Greenlandic woman living in Denmark won back custody of her infant daughter. Officials had taken the girl after an evaluation that they later acknowledged was flawed.
This month, an ICE agent fatally shot a man in Chicago during an attempted arrest. An analysis of surveillance and bystander videos sheds new light on what happened.
PAY TO STAY
Trump is imposing a $100,000-a-year fee for H-1B visas, which let skilled foreign workers like software engineers come to the United States. Fees have become a staple of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Evan Gorelick, a writer for this newsletter, catalogs some examples.
Gold cards. These visas cost $1 million, or $2 million if a business is sponsoring an applicant. The commerce secretary said they would function like green cards but raise billions of dollars from people of “exceptional value.”
Visitor fees. Millions of tourists, business travelers and students will be subject to a new $250 fee.
Asylum applications. It used to be free to apply for asylum, a form of legal protection for foreigners who face persecution at home. Now, it costs $100 to submit a new application, and another $100 each year the application is pending.
Temporary protected status. Applications now cost $500, up from the previous $50 fee. The program grants legal status to people for whom it might be unsafe (because of war or famine) to return home.
Work permits. There’s a new $550 minimum fee to submit an application. (It used to be free.) There’s also an additional $275 fee to renew or extend a permit.
Travel bonds. Some visitors must pay bonds of up to $15,000 to ensure that they do not overstay their visas, under a State Department trial program announced in August. They get it back when they leave.
Related: Trump’s H-1B visa fee knocks down a bridge between the U.S. and India. Indians won 71 percent of the visas in the 2024 lottery.
OPINIONS
Recognition of Palestinian statehood is at best empty symbolism and at worst a distraction from Israel’s war in Gaza, Mustafa Barghouti writes.
Here’s are column by Michelle Cottle on gerrymandering.
MORNING READS
Cold strawberries: High in the Canadian Arctic, where no trees grow, a new greenhouse provides fresh produce to Inuits.
Ask Well: Experts say ginger really can help soothe an upset stomach.
Your pick: The most-clicked story in The Morning yesterday was about Trump’s speech at Charlie Kirk’s memorial.
High Holy Days: Today is Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. The Times spoke with a rabbi about this era of American Judaism. “The divisions feel really real,” he said.
Repentance: Every major world religion has a process for moral accounting. That can be really good for your health — even if you’re not religious.
Hang 10: Ron DiMenna, a founder of the Ron Jon Surf Shop who helped expand surfing into mainstream culture, died at 88.
SPORTS
N.F.L.: Americans were searching for news about the Detroit Lions, who dominated the Baltimore Ravens, sacking their quarterback, Lamar Jackson, seven times.
Incognito: Harry Styles reportedly ran the Berlin Marathon under a false name — and finished in under three hours.
HEY, BIG SPENDER
“Broadway is not a business anymore,” the composer Andrew Lloyd Webber told The Times recently. “I look at the economics of this, and I just don’t see how it can sustain.”
He was reacting to some grim financial news: Of the 18 commercial musicals that opened on Broadway last season, not one has turned a profit.
The new musicals “Tammy Faye,” “Boop!” and “Smash” each cost at least $20 million to bring to the stage. All were gone in less than four months.
And expensive revivals of “Cabaret,” “Gypsy” and “Sunset Boulevard” have not recouped their losses, despite good reviews and Tony Awards.
Why is Broadway in trouble? Producers point to a few factors. Attendance still slightly lags prepandemic levels. And ticket prices have remained relatively flat, while costs have skyrocketed.
More on culture
Four decades ago, tens of thousands gathered for a Live Aid concert in London, to raise money for famine relief. Last week, a new group of musicians played for Gaza.
A blockbuster exhibition in Florence will spotlight works by the Italian Renaissance painter Fra Angelico, the patron saint of artists.
THE MORNING RECOMMENDS …
Sear broccoli for this chunky soup with potato.
Watch “Megadoc,” which explores the making of Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis.”
Stand while you work.
GAMES
Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangrams were goodnight and hotdogging.
And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections, Sports Connections and Strands.
Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow.
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Amelia Nierenberg contributed to this newsletter.