Sep 5, 2025 - Politics & Policy

Trump breaks from RFK on vaccines: "Pure and simple, they work"

Herb Scribner

President Trump speaks to reporters while signing executive orders at his desk in the Oval Office. — President Trump signs executive orders, including one to rename the Pentagon as the Department of War, in the Oval Office on Sept. 5. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

President Trump said he's supportive of vaccines on Friday, breaking with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Why it matters: Kennedy has faced widespread criticism for his new vaccine mandates and staffing shake-up at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Driving the news: Trump was asked Friday during an Oval Office meeting about Kennedy's vaccine mandate changes, which include limiting which children are eligible for vaccines.

"I think you have to be very careful when you say that some people don't have to be vaccinated," Trump said of Kennedy's vaccine mandates for children.
"They're just, pure and simple — they work," he added. "They're not controversial at all. And I think those vaccines should be used."

Context: Trump has a history of changing his tune on vaccines, initially expressing skepticism about them in the early days of Operation Warp Speed — launched in 2020 to fast-track development of a COVID-19 vaccine.

He later called the vaccine a "medical miracle" that could "save millions of lives." Recently, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said Trump deserved the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the development of the COVID-19 vaccine.
For years, Trump shared debunked theories about vaccines causing autism, including during his first presidential campaign in 2015, per The New York Times.
Trump has said he opposes vaccine mandates and signed a presidential action earlier this year that eliminated federal funding for COVID-19 vaccine mandates in schools, pointing to "the incredibly low risk of serious COVID-19 illness for children and young adults."

The big picture: Trump's break from RFK Jr. comes as the health secretary was lambasted at a Senate hearing over his rattling of the CDC staff, alterations to vaccine recommendations and massive changes that have upended years of vaccine policy and research.

"I think Secretary Kennedy is dead set on making it harder for children to get vaccines and that kids are going to die because of it," Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said at the hearing.
Kennedy's nephew, former U.S. congressman Joe Kennedy III, called on the health secretary to resign Friday, saying he was "a threat to the health and well-being of every American."

What's next: Kennedy's power play in September will test his support in the White House and Congress.

Go deeper: "Charlatan," "ignorant": Democrats blast RFK Jr. on vaccines

Add Axios on Google

Trump breaks from RFK on vaccines: "Pure and simple, they work"

What to read next