U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told President Donald Trump during a 26 Aug. cabinet meeting that his department has identified “certain interventions” that are “almost certainly causing autism” and will publish its findings in September. Kennedy said the announcement would outline both the suspected drivers of the disorder and steps the government plans to take to address them. Citing a 1970 Wisconsin study that put autism prevalence at 0.7 per 10,000 children, Kennedy contrasted that figure with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2022 estimate of one in 31 children nationwide and, in California, one in 12.5 boys. Trump called the surge a “tremendous horror show” and indicated he expects to appear alongside the secretary when the results are unveiled. The forthcoming report is the centerpiece of a $50 million Autism Data Science Initiative launched in April under the administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” program. Kennedy did not specify which “interventions” are under scrutiny, but his long-standing skepticism of childhood vaccines has already drawn attention from public-health experts. Researchers contacted by journals such as Nature and PBS NewsHour cautioned that decades of peer-reviewed studies attribute roughly 80 % of autism risk to genetics and find no credible evidence linking vaccines or any single environmental factor to the condition. Many scientists argue that broader diagnostic criteria and greater awareness, rather than a new external trigger, explain most of the reported increase in cases. HHS has yet to release study protocols or data underlying Kennedy’s claim, prompting advocacy groups to demand transparency ahead of the September deadline. The agency says more details will be provided at that time, but outside experts warn that overstating preliminary findings could erode public trust in established autism research and vaccination programs.