President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that seeks to limit the number of childhood vaccines and recommends splitting the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine into three individual shots. The order, signed on August 10, 2026, reflects a long-standing focus by the Trump administration on a discredited link between vaccines and autism.
"Decades ago, children received only a small fraction of the vaccines required today," Trump stated during an event in the Oval Office. "In those times, people were much healthier and of course the high rates of autism now observed did not exist."
Multiple scientific studies have found no link between the MMR vaccine and autism. The Trump administration has repeatedly promoted a connection between vaccines and autism, a stance that has been widely refuted by scientific consensus.
The event included Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya, and Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy Dr. Heidi Overton.