Trump faces backlash over childhood vaccines order

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White House Headlines - August 11, 2026

White House Headlines - August 11, 2026

It’s Tuesday: And it’s shaping up to be a busy one, even with Congress on recess.

Critics respond to Trump’s vaccine order

Critics respond to Trump’s vaccine order

Trump’s reported Air Force One ruse

GOP senators rally for Thune

Trump backs FIFA’s Infantino

Programming note: We’re Abigail Walker, Joshua Feldstein and Elliott Davis, filling in for Cate today. Please send your tips, comments and story ideas to awalker@thehill.com, jfeldstein@thehill.com or edavis@thehill.com.

🎤 IN THE WHITE HOUSE 

Trump’s big move on kid’s vaccines:

AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Trump on Monday afternoon signed an executive order calling for changes to the childhood immunization schedule and advising that the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination should be administered during three separate visits.  

He signed the “Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations” order alongside Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya. 

“Decades ago, children received only a small fraction of the vaccines required today. In those times, people were much [healthier], and of course, the high rates of autism now observed did not exist,” Trump said in the Oval Office. 

💬 Follow today’s live blog 

➤ WHO’S JABBING BACK:

The new recommendation has been met with concern from several current and former officials.  

President, not an MD: “I’m a doctor. This executive order is wrong. The President does not have the expertise to make these changes. Vaccines are overwhelmingly safe. Vaccines are effective. Vaccines DO NOT cause autism,” Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) posted on X. 

Tajikistan?: “No other country does this. No country in Europe does this. Tajikistan used to do this, but they don’t even do that anymore. But I don’t want to be like Tajikistan, right?” Dr. Ashish Jha, the Biden administration’s White House coordinator of the COVID-19 pandemic said in a Monday interview with The Hill’s sister network, NewsNation.  

Expert opinion: “There is no new evidence to justify........

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