FACT FOCUS: Trump makes false claims as he signs order urging revisions around childhood vaccines

President Donald Trump, along with members of his administration, issued an executive order on Monday urging states to revise childhood vaccine recommendations. During this announcement, they repeated several false claims about vaccines and their connection to autism. The order proposes breaking the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine into three separate shots administered at different times.

However, public health experts are worried that spacing out the shots could raise the risk of children contracting vaccine-preventable diseases before returning for another visit.

Trump claimed that in many cases, children received 72 jabs during their first 18 years, but this is misleading. The government's childhood vaccination schedule in 2025 recommends routine protection against 18 diseases, amounting to between several dozen and about 34 injections, depending on factors such as vaccine brands, combination shots, and the child's starting age.

Typically, this would be closer to three dozen shots. Vaccines have been proven to protect children from preventable and sometimes devastating diseases, and families can opt out if they choose.

Furthermore, the Trump administration cut the national vaccine recommendations in January to shots protecting against 11 diseases, and these are now given separately for at-risk children or as available through "shared decision-making" with a doctor. This would reduce the total number of injections to approximately 23 if children receive only the recommended vaccinations on the administration's new schedule.

Trump stated that the MMR vaccine should be given in three separate vaccinations given at separate times, claiming that combining them could be lethal. This is false; doctors say, and decades of real-world evidence prove, that the current combination MMR vaccine is both safe and effective at protecting children from illness. Mild side effects include a sore arm, fever, a mild rash, and temporary pain and stiffness in the joints. Separate vaccines for measles, mumps, and rubella are not available in the United States.

Lastly, Trump said that administering large amounts of vaccines would not harm children. This is also false. Dr. Molly O’Shea, a Michigan pediatrician, explained that typical vaccine doses are less than 0.5 milliliters per shot, usually between 0.1 to 0.3 milliliters. A teaspoon is about 5 milliliters, so the amount given in vaccines is extremely small—comparable to a teeny amount, and not even a fraction of what is found in a typical plastic bottle of soda.