President Trump is facing a quandary over his legacy and political outlook in the face of growing fissures at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) over vaccine policy.
Trump has aligned himself closely with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement, and with them a swath of supporters who are skeptical of vaccines.
But in doing so, Trump has made it more difficult to embrace what he has called arguably his greatest accomplishment: the rapid development of an effective vaccine against COVID-19. And it could pose a threat to his political fortunes if Kennedy presses ahead with drastic changes to vaccine policy.
It has created a political minefield for Trump. The president has expressed admiration for the Kennedy name, and he teamed with Kennedy and his coalition during the 2024 campaign to win the White House and launch the MAHA movement.
But strategists and officials close to the White House told The Hill that if the administration unwinds vaccine approvals or makes effective shots more difficult to get, it will lead to not only potential public health crises, but political backlash with some voters.
“Ultimately, it’s the politics. … Does the benefit Trump gets from keeping Kennedy there with MAHA people outweigh the cost with suburban swing voters with some of the changes?” one official who worked in the first Trump administration said. “And that’s the calculus at the end of the day. Right now, it’s good to keep him around.”
Kennedy has long voiced opposition to vaccines, though he has pushed back on being labeled “anti-vaccine.” He has spent decades promoting the theory that childhood vaccines have led to an increase in autism and chronic illnesses, despite studies repeatedly showing otherwise.
Trump on the campaign trail spoke sparingly about Operation Warp Speed, the governmentwide effort to develop an effective vaccine against COVID-19 in 2020. Instead, he vowed to punish schools that had vaccine mandates in place. And he has at times questioned vaccines and drawn a connection between the shots and autism.
Vaccine policy was back in the spotlight last week, as it contributed to the ouster of former CDC Director Susan Monarez and the departure of other top agency officials. Kennedy reportedly asked Monarez to agree to accept certain vaccine recommendations.
It’s a complicated issue for Trump, who just last week boasted about Operation Warp Speed and whose diverse political coalition includes both the MAHA movement and more traditional voters who may be wary of changes to public health policy.
“Operation Warp Speed people say is one of the greatest achievements ever in politics or in the military — because it was almost a military procedure,” Trump said last week during a Cabinet meeting, claiming even Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the effort.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump last month told donors during a private event that he wished he could brag more about Operation Warp Speed.
Meanwhile, some of Trump’s staunchest supporters have been publicly critical of Kennedy and his staffers, questioning their credentials and motivations.
Trump seemingly attempted to thread the needle over the weekend with a post on Truth Social calling for companies such as Pfizer and others to “justify the success of their various Covid Drugs.” He acknowledged the issue was dividing his own administration.
“Many people think they are a miracle that saved Millions of lives. Others disagree!” Trump posted. “With CDC being ripped apart over this question, I want the answer, and I want it NOW.
“I have been shown information from Pfizer, and others, that is extraordinary, but they never seem to show those results to the public. Why not???” he continued. “They go off to the next ‘hunt’ and let everyone rip themselves apart, including Bobby Kennedy Jr. and CDC, trying to figure out the success or failure of the Drug Companies Covid work. They show me GREAT numbers and results, but they don’t seem to be showing them to many others. I want them to show them NOW, to CDC and the public, and clear up this MESS, one way or the other!!!”
Trump did not specify if he was referring to vaccines that have reduced the death rate related to COVID-19, or if he was referring to drugs such as Paxlovid that help manage its symptoms. But he wrote that he hoped Operation Warp Speed, which dealt with vaccine development, was as “‘BRILLIANT’ as many say it was.”
Sources told The Hill that Kennedy’s job is not in danger and that Trump is aware of the political importance of the secretary’s followers.
“He really cares about Republicans keeping the House, because he doesn’t want to be impeached again,” the first-term Trump official said. “He thinks the MAHA people — that if he fires Kennedy, they won’t show up.”
Still, Kennedy has a crucial month ahead of him, and one that could shape the course of vaccine policy in the U.S. for years to come.
The secretary is scheduled to testify before a Senate committee Thursday. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which shapes vaccine policy, is set to convene later this month.
And Kennedy has promised to release a report this month identifying “interventions” that are “certainly causing autism.”
Kennedy penned an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday defending the leadership overhaul at the CDC, vowing to refocus the agency, and arguing voters gave Trump a mandate to make such changes.
“The American people elected President Trump—not entrenched bureaucrats—to set health policy,” Kennedy wrote. “That is the MAHA commitment—make America [healthy] again—in action.”
He also described the response to the biggest U.S. outbreak of measles in decades, in West Texas, as a success that shows what a “focused CDC can achieve.”
