In an interview with Kristen Welker on “Meet The Press,” President Trump discussed Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his nomination for Health and Human Services secretary, investigating a potential link between autism and childhood vaccines. Welker asked Trump if he wants “childhood vaccines eliminated.” “Let me ask you about RFK Jr. He has obviously talked about his skepticism of vaccines. He’s expressed opposition to childhood vaccines. Do you want to see childhood vaccines eliminated?” Welker asked. “If they’re dangerous for the children,” Trump responded. “When you look at some of the problems, when you look at what’s going on with disease and sickness in our country, something’s wrong,” he continued. “Are you talking about autism?” Welker asked. “Well, if you take a look at autism. Go back 25 years. Autism was almost non-existent. It was, you know, one out of 100,000. And now it’s close to one out of 100,” Trump said. “I mean, what’s happening? If they can find it. Now, I did something the other night that was a little unusual. At Mar-a-Lago, I called the drug companies, the top drug companies, and I called RFK Jr., and Dr. Oz, and some of his people, and I said, ‘Let’s all get together and let’s figure out where we’re going because we’re going to do a lot of things.’ Number one, we’re going to reduce prices because the middleman makes more money than the drug companies, in all fairness to the drug companies. There’s a middleman that nobody even knows who they are. And you look at our drug prices, they’re much higher than the prices for the same medicine, for the same stuff. So we met. And we were — we met for a long time. And we talked about pricing,” Trump explained. “And we talked about vaccines, you know, in terms of what happens. We talked about pesticides. We talked about everything. And I think a lot of good things are going to come from him. And he’s, he’s not going to upset any system. He’s not going to upset the system. He’s not looking to reinvent the wheel totally. But when you look at the numbers, we really don’t have a very healthy country,” he continued. “Sir, going back 25 years, studies show that there is no link between vaccines and autism. And yet, it sounds like you are open to the possibility of him looking at getting rid of them,” Welker responded. “I’m open to anything,” Trump said. “I think somebody has to find out. If you go back 25 years ago, you had very little autism,” he continued. “One in 100,000 and now it’s one in 100. That’s a pretty bad number,” he added. Trump noted that he wants to “look at everything.” WATCH: JUST IN: Trump announces RFK Jr. will investigate the link between vaccines and autism as the head of the HHS. NBC's Kristen Welker asks if Trump wants childhood vaccines to be eliminated. TRUMP: "If they're dangerous for the children." "If you take a look at autism, you go… pic.twitter.com/coYUkxs4gc — Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) December 8, 2024 “When President Trump is attacked for saying we should be conducting science on pharmaceutical products and fearlessly investigate any potential causes making us the sickest country in the world, it shines a light on the deep rot among scientists and the media (not Trump and RFK). President Trump eloquently talks about needing to figure out what’s behind the childhood chronic disease crisis,” Calley Means commented. “When the reporter ignores his comments and pushes him on the link between vaccines and autism, Trump responds that we should aggressively study that given the alarming increase in the disease. This is a no brainer response. The reporter responds with a completely discredited claim that autism rates are skyrocketing due to better diagnosis. There is no more scientific answer Trump can give than we should fearlessly study everything. Breathtaking exchange,” he added. When President Trump is attacked for saying we should be conducting science on pharmaceutical products and fearlessly investigate any potential causes making us the sickest country in the world, it shines a light on the deep rot among scientists and the media (not Trump and RFK).… https://t.co/FjyDwyCc2z — Calley Means (@calleymeans) December 8, 2024 Per NBC News: Autism diagnoses have risen from about 1 in 150 children in 2000 to 1 in 36 today, though researchers have pointed to increased screening and changing definitions of the condition as the basis for that rise. Scientists have found a strong genetic link to the complex disorder, with many risk factors occurring before birth or during delivery. Trump, too, has for years suggested a link between autism and vaccines. “Hey, look, I’m not against vaccines,” Trump said during the interview with Welker. “The polio vaccine is the greatest thing. If somebody told me, ‘Get rid of the polio vaccine,’ they’re going to have to work real hard to convince me. I think vaccines are — certain vaccines — are incredible, but maybe some aren’t. And if they aren’t, we have to find out. But when you talk about autism, because it was brought up, and you look at the amount we have today versus 20 or 25 years ago, it’s pretty scary.” The comments are a shift from when Trump, after Kennedy’s endorsement, said he would let him “go wild” on public health issues. Trump added he thinks that “a lot of good things” are going to come from Kennedy’s leadership. In the final stretch of the campaign, Kennedy held events under the “Make America Healthy Again” banner — a slogan he has used to promote issues like reducing pharmaceutical companies’ influence on government agencies, combating chronic health issues among children and improving food safety. Watch Trump’s full interview on “Meet the Press”: