President Donald Trump announced that taking the common pain relief drug Tylenol during pregnancy can lead to an increased risk of autism for unborn babies.
"Today we're delighted to be joined by America's top medical and public health professional as we announce historic steps to confront the crisis of autism, horrible, horrible crisis," said Trump.
The president said that Tylenol taken during pregnancy "can be associated with a very increased risk of autism."
"So taking Tylenol is not good," he said, adding, "For this reason, they are strongly recommending that women limit Tylenol use during pregnancy unless medically necessary."
The Trump administration said in April it would kick off a massive research initiative to understand the cause of autism by September.
"Tomorrow we're going to have one of the biggest announcement(s) … medically, I think, in the history of our country. I think you're going to find it to be amazing," Trump said Sunday at the memorial service for conservative activist Charlie Kirk. "I think we found an answer to autism."
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No additional details were immediately provided, and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that the announcement was related to the "childhood autism epidemic."
"This will be a powerful display of how the entire Trump administration is committed to addressing root causes of chronic conditions and diseases, embracing full transparency in government and championing gold standard science," Leavitt said.
Leavitt also said that pregnant women have been "confused" by rising rates of autism and that they "want answers to that."
"There will be a number of things that will be announced and discussed," Leavitt said. "And I think I know as a mother myself, I speak, I believe, for many mothers across the country who really want answers to what is happening to our nation's children."
Meanwhile, the Trump administration is expected to announce that it will caution pregnant women against using Tylenol during pregnancy except if they have a fever, the Washington Post reports, as the administration studies if use of the drug might be tied to autism.
Tylenol maker Kenvue did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
However, Kenvue recently said in a statement that acetaminophen, the generic name for Tylenol, is the safest pain reliever for pregnant women.
"Acetaminophen is the safest pain reliever option for pregnant women as needed throughout their entire pregnancy," Kenvue said in a statement Sunday. "Without it, women face dangerous choices: suffer through conditions like fever that are potentially harmful to both mom and baby or use riskier alternatives."
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a survey in April that found that autism prevalence is on the rise and said the increase "might be due to differences in availability of services for early detection and evaluation and diagnostic practices."
Specifically, the survey found that one in 31 8-year-old children were diagnosed with autism in 2022 - up from one in 36 in 2000.
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Meanwhile, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has pointed to environmental factors as the root cause of autism.
"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," Kennedy said in April at an event related to the CDC's report. "And it's to their benefit to say 'Oh, to normalize it, to say all this is all normal, it's always been here.' That's not good for our country."
