The president is supporting Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary who is changing the US health system, despite the pressure from Congress, worries about public health and the political risks of changing vaccination policies across the country.
Since becoming the leading US health authority, Kennedy has reduced funding for vaccine research, has limited access to covid-19 vaccines and has dismissed the chief of disease control and prevention centers, which makes US vaccine recommendations.
The consequences of these changes to Americans and their well-being are vast, warn public health professionals. They also represent a possible political danger: if an outbreak of an infectious disease occurs after vaccination rates fall, Trump may be held responsible.
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But so far, the president has been firm in his support for Kennedy, according to sources familiar with the relationship between the two, emphasizing Trump’s willingness to challenge the US health system, as he did with the academy, law, media and other US society institutions.
“Different ideas”
“He’s a very good person … and has good intentions, but has some slightly different ideas,” Trump told reporters on Thursday at the White House after senators questioned Kennedy at an audience early in the day. “If we look at what is happening in the world in relation to health, and observe this country also in relation to health, I like the fact that it is different.”
Trump and Kennedy talk regularly, although not as often as the president talks to some other office employees, a White House employee said. They do not share the same passion, added the employee, but Trump supports the secretary.
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Heir to a political dynasty
Trump rewarded Kennedy with the position of health and human services after obtaining support from the Kennedy -inspired Make America Healthy Again movement in the 2024 election. Kennedy, who comes from one of the country’s most famous political dynasties, briefly ran for the presidency as Democrat and independent before giving up to support Trump.
In December, Trump minimized the possibility of the longtime critic of the vaccine making extreme changes.
Trump’s own opinions about vaccines are complicated. Although it may claim credit by accelerating the development of covid-19 vaccines during its first term, it has been reluctant to open them openly due to the resistance of its political base to vaccines and the broader response to the pandemic.
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Florida leaders announced a plan on Wednesday to end all state vaccine requirements, including students attending schools. Trump seemed to question this subtly on Friday.
“See, you have some vaccines that are amazing. The vaccine against polio, by chance, I think it’s amazing,” he told reporters in the Oval Hall. “You need to be very careful when you say that some people don’t have to be vaccinated … it’s a very difficult position.”
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While Democrats have been more confident about vaccines in recent years, Republicans seem less receptive, according to Reuters/Ipsos surveys.
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About 75% of Democrats said in May that they consider vaccines against diseases such as measles, mumps and “very secure” rubella for children, an increase compared to the 64% recorded in a Reuters/IPSS survey conducted in May 2020. Among Republicans, this index fell to 41% in May this year, compared to 57% registered five years before.
