President Donald Trump has privately determined that Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-vaccine conspiracy theories and extreme health policy positions have descended into the realm of the ridiculous, according to journalist Michael Wolff during an appearance on The Daily Beast’s “Inside Trump’s Head” podcast.
“I know that he’s been calling around and saying to people, you know, ‘I hear people say, Bobby is crazy. You think he’s crazy?'” Wolff told his co-host, Joanna Coles. “And you know the answer he wants.”
Trump appears to be creating space between himself and the cabinet member he selected for the position. Based on a Wall Street Journal article published March 25, White House staff members are becoming increasingly concerned that Kennedy’s policy initiatives might harm Republican contenders in the 2026 midterm elections, a race already forecasted to pose serious challenges for the GOP.
The presidential criticism emerged as Kennedy’s attack on mainstream medical science keeps producing new scandals—from promoting discredited anti-vaccine claims to removing experienced scientists from government health institutions. During his time in office, measles infections have surged to their highest levels in over 30 years, with more than 2,285 confirmed infections reported in the U.S. in 2025, the greatest number since the illness was declared eliminated in 2000. By the end of March 2026, the CDC had documented over 1,575 more confirmed infections.
Kennedy has methodically taken apart critical elements of America’s public health system since assuming his position. In June 2025, he terminated all 17 individuals serving on the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, asserting a “clean sweep” was necessary to “reestablish public confidence in vaccine science.” He removed CDC Director Susan Monarez in late August following her refusal to automatically approve vaccine policy modifications and dismiss senior personnel. Monarez’ attorneys described the firing as politically driven, stating she “chose protecting the public over serving a political agenda.”
The health secretary has advanced increasingly unsubstantiated medical claims throughout his time in office. Kennedy asserted without supporting evidence that nations with the highest acetaminophen consumption experience the greatest autism rates. He also asserted he had viewed a TikTok video showing a woman “gobbling Tylenol” who delivered a “baby in her placenta.” Trump personally then advised expectant mothers and parents to avoid acetaminophen based on these unproven assertions.
Following Kennedy’s instructions, the CDC modified its website to dispute the prevailing scientific consensus that vaccines are not linked to autism. His handpicked vaccine advisory panel has raised concerns about immunizing infants against hepatitis B, while Kennedy expressed skepticism about the measles vaccine and advocated for unverified treatments.
In March 2026, U.S. District Court Judge Brian Murphy in Boston blocked Kennedy’s ACIP appointees from serving and invalidated all their previous votes, including the decision to drop the hepatitis B vaccine recommendation for newborns. Murphy ruled Kennedy had acted arbitrarily and capriciously, and also reversed the CDC’s January 2026 reduction of recommended childhood vaccinations from 18 to 11. The Trump administration said it expected the ruling to be overturned. “This was everybody’s fear about having RFK Jr. as our HHS secretary,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at the Pandemic Center at Brown University.
Over 1,000 current and former HHS staff members signed a public letter declaring Kennedy is “compromising the health of this nation” and calling for his removal. Public confidence in the CDC has fallen to its lowest level since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. A shooting attack at the CDC’s Atlanta headquarters on August 8, 2025, resulted in the death of DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose. The shooter, driven by skepticism toward vaccines, discharged more than 180 rounds into CDC facilities. Previous CDC staff members attributed Kennedy’s incendiary language and false information for contributing to the attack.
The tension between Trump and Kennedy allegedly escalated following Trump’s signing of an executive order on Feb. 18, 2026, using the Defense Production Act to mandate American manufacturing of glyphosate-containing herbicides. The action shocked Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again followers, considering that Kennedy had previously secured nearly $289 million in a lawsuit against Monsanto on behalf of a man who asserted his cancer resulted from Roundup, the commercial name for glyphosate formulations.
A May 2025 document from Kennedy’s own MAHA Commission observed glyphosate and atrazine appearing in the bloodstreams of children and expectant mothers at “alarming levels.” However, the following strategy document contained no reference to glyphosate, and the Trump administration sided with Bayer in an upcoming Supreme Court matter that could dismiss thousands of legal claims asserting Roundup triggers cancer. Oral arguments are set for April 27, 2026.
Kennedy had received no advance notice about the glyphosate executive order, according to CNBC. MAHA advocates responded with outrage, interpreting the action as a repudiation of Kennedy’s professed values before the 2026 midterm contests. Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group, called the order “a big middle finger to every MAHA mom.”
In May 2025, Kennedy declared that the federal CDC would cease advising COVID-19 booster vaccinations for healthy children and expectant mothers, leading major medical organizations to reject the modification. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists maintain their vaccination recommendations for these populations regardless of the CDC’s revised guidance. Kennedy also revealed newly selected members of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, maintaining his emphasis on the developmental condition despite the absence of scientific support for his hypotheses regarding its origins.
The reported presidential dissatisfaction with Kennedy indicates possible boundaries to how extensively Trump will permit his health secretary’s program to advance. At the same time, Republican opposition to Kennedy’s appointees has increased. Senator Bill Cassidy, who provided a crucial vote to approve Kennedy, has openly criticized him regarding mRNA vaccine funding reductions. Nevertheless, Kennedy has avoided the series of terminations that affected the Department of Homeland Security, making his continued role in the administration unclear as Republican resistance grows. In February 2026, Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill — who had also been serving as acting CDC director — and General Counsel Mike Stuart both departed in a White House-directed shakeup ahead of the midterms.
