Trump chooses anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary

NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump announced Thursday he will nominate anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, putting a man whose views public health officials have decried as dangerous in charge of a massive agency that oversees everything from drug, vaccine and food safety to medical research, Medicare and Medicaid.

“For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health,” Trump said Thursday in a post on his Truth Social site announcing the appointment. Kennedy, he said, would “end the Chronic Disease epidemic" and “Make America Great and Healthy Again!”

Trump said Kennedy would target drugs, food additives and chemicals.

As one of the most prominent anti-vaccine activists in the world, Kennedy's nomination immediately alarmed some public health officials.

Dr. Mandy Cohen, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told The Associated Press, “I don’t want to go backwards and see children or adults suffer or lose their lives to remind us that vaccines work, and so I am concerned.”

Trump also announced Thursday that he has chosen Doug Collins, a former congressman from Georgia, to run the Department of Veterans Affairs. Collins is a chaplain in the U.S. Air Force Reserve Command. The Republican served in Congress from 2013 to 2021, and he helped defend Trump during his first impeachment process.

Kennedy hails from one of the nation’s most storied political families and is the son of the late Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and the nephew of President John F. Kennedy. He first challenged President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination last year. He then ran as an independent but abandoned his bid this summer after striking a deal to endorse Trump in exchange for a promise to serve in a health policy role during a second Trump administration.

He and the president-elect have since become good friends. The two campaigned together extensively during the race’s final stretch, and Trump made clear he intended to give Kennedy a major public health role.

“I’m going to let him go wild on health,” Trump said at a rally last month.

During the campaign, Kennedy told NewsNation that Trump had asked him to “reorganize” agencies including the CDC, the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration.

Kennedy has pushed against processed foods and the use of herbicides like Roundup weed killer. He has long criticized the large commercial farms and animal feeding operations that dominate the industry.

But he is perhaps best known for his criticism of childhood vaccines.

Again and again, Kennedy has made his opposition to vaccines clear. In July, he said in a podcast interview that “There’s no vaccine that is safe and effective” and told FOX News that he still believes in the long-ago debunked idea that vaccines can cause autism.

In a 2021 podcast he urged people to “resist” CDC guidelines that advise when kids should receive routine vaccinations.

“I see somebody on a hiking trail carrying a little baby and I say to him, ‘Better not get them vaccinated,’” Kennedy said.

Repeated scientific studies in the U.S. and abroad have found no link between vaccines and autism. Vaccines have been proven safe and effective in laboratory testing and in real world use in hundreds of millions of people over decades. The World Health Organization credits childhood vaccines with preventing as many as 5 million deaths a year.

Trump during his first term launched Operation Warp Speed, an effort to speed the production and distribution of a vaccine to combat COVID-19. The resulting vaccines were widely credited, including by Trump himself, with saving lives.

Kennedy has also worked to shore up support among young mothers in particular, on a message of ridding the U.S. of unhealthy ingredients in foods, promising to model regulations after those imposed in Europe. His claims that the U.S. obesity epidemic, as well as a rise in chronic diseases like diabetes, are the result of processed and unhealthy foods has resonated on social media among fitness gurus and mom influencers alike.

It remains unclear how that will square with Trump’s history of deregulation of big industries, including food. Trump has pushed for fewer inspections of the meat industry, for example.

Kennedy’s stance on vaccines raises question about his ability to get confirmed, even in a GOP-controlled Senate. He also has said he would make a controversial recommendation to remove fluoride from drinking water, although fluoride levels are mandated by state and local governments. The addition of the mineral has been cited as leading to improved dental health and is considered safe at low levels.

Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune would not comment on Trump's pick of Kennedy or any other potential nominee. “I’m not going to make any judgments about any of these folks at this point,” he said.

But Republican Sen. Josh Hawley, R-MO, praised the HHS pick, posting on X: “Bad day for Big Pharma! @RobertKennedyJr."

Several Democrats quickly condemned the selection.

Washington Sen. Patty Murray, the No. 3 Democrat, said that Kennedy’s confirmation would be “nothing short of a disaster for the health of millions of families.”

But not every Democrat recoiled from the news. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said he was “excited” for Kennedy to lead HHS. Polis said he wants to see Kennedy take on “big pharma” and hopes he will “lean into personal choice” on vaccines.

That idea is concerning to former New York Public Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan, who said that if people opt against vaccines, deadly viruses could run wild. He points to an uptick in measles outbreaks — 16 have occurred so far this year compared to four last year. “That’s going to continue if we have someone at the top of our health system that is saying, ‘I’m not so sure about the science here,’” Vasan said.

FDA could have one of the biggest shakeups, with Kennedy's promises of more regulations — action that would buck the moves that previous Republican administrations have made. He has promised a crackdown on food dyes and preservatives. And with pharmaceutical companies, he's suggested that drugmakers be barred from advertising on TV, a multibillion-dollar enterprise that accounts for most of the industry’s marketing dollars. He also proposed eliminating fees that drugmakers pay the FDA to review their products.

He wants to weaken FDA regulations around a host of unsubstantiated therapies, including psychedelics and stem cells as well as discredited COVID-era drugs like ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine.

Kennedy also will focus on ending the “revolving door” of employees who have previously worked for pharmaceutical companies or leave government service to work for that industry, his former campaign communications manager, Del Bigtree, told the AP last month.

This past weekend, Kennedy said he wanted to fire 600 employees at NIH, which oversees vaccine research and replace them with 600 new people. In separate comments, he has said that in his first week he would order a pause in drug development and infectious disease research, shifting the focus to chronic diseases.

Kennedy’s anti-vaccine nonprofit group, Children’s Health Defense, currently has a lawsuit pending against a number of news organizations, among them The Associated Press, accusing them of violating antitrust laws by taking action to identify misinformation, including about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines. Kennedy took leave from the group when he announced his run for president but is listed as one of its attorneys in the lawsuit.

Trump also announced Thursday that he will nominate Jay Clayton, who served as chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission during his first term, to serve as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

__ Seitz reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Zeke Miller, Mary Clare Jalonick and Matthew Perrone in Washington, Mike Stobbe in New York, and JoNel Aleccia in Temecula, California contributed to this report.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. arrives before President-elect Donald Trump speaks during an America First Policy Institute gala at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Matt Gaetz talks with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., before President-elect Donald Trump speaks during an America First Policy Institute gala at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and his wife Cheryl Hines arrive before President-elect Donald Trump speaks during an America First Policy Institute gala at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

FILE - Former Rep. Doug Collins speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign event at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, Oct. 15, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign event Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

FILE - Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign event, Sept. 27, 2024 in Walker, Mich. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

LIMA, Peru (AP) — President Joe Biden arrived Thursday in Peru to start his six-day visit to Latin America for the final major international summits of his presidency, even as world leaders turn their attention to what Donald Trump’s return to the White House means for their countries.

The visit to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru and stops in the Amazon rainforest and at the Group of 20 leaders summit in Brazil offer Biden one of his last chances as president to meet with heads of state he’s worked with over the years.

But world leaders' eyes are firmly affixed on Trump.

They already are burning up Trump's phone with congratulatory talks. At least one leader, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, is dusting off his golf clubs, in case the chance to bond with the golf-loving Trump should present itself.

White House officials insist that Biden's visits will be substantive, with talks on climate issues, global infrastructure, counternarcotic efforts and one-on-one meetings with global leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, and a joint meeting with South Korea's Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

The meeting with Yoon and Ishiba would aim to solidify the progress made since their initial meeting last year, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Air Force One. That includes tightening security and economic cooperation amid increasingly tense relations with China and North Korea.

It also would be an opportunity for them to discuss North Korean troops going to Russia to help with the war in Ukraine, Sullivan said.

He says the Biden administration is working to ensure the three-country meeting is “an enduring feature of American policy.” He expects it would continue under Trump, noting its bipartisan support, but acknowledged it was up to the incoming president's team.

Biden's South American trip comes a day after he met with Trump in the White House. That wide-ranging discussion touched on the conflicts in Gaza, Lebanon and Ukraine.

“I wanted — I asked — for his views, and he gave them to me,” Trump told The New York Post after his conversation with Biden.

Sullivan indicated that White House officials also are making clear to Trump's team that the delicate U.S.-China relationship is the “paramount priority for the incoming administration.”

He stressed the risks if stability is upended in the Taiwan Strait: “that would be catastrophic for everyone involved — for Taiwan, for Beijing, for us, for the world,” he said. “Because of the size of the risk, even if it’s not that likely, it’s something that has to be at the top of the agenda.”

Beijing claims Taiwan as its own territory and vows to annex it — by force if necessary. The U.S. is Taiwan’s biggest unofficial ally and is bound by law to provide the island with the means to defend itself.

Trump is nominating noted China hawks for key positions: Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of state and Florida Rep. Mike Waltz for his national security adviser.

The White House had been working for months to arrange the meeting with Xi, whose country is the United States' most prominent economic and national security competitor.

For Xi, front of mind will be Trump's campaign promise to impose 60% tariffs on Chinese imports. White House officials avoided commenting in detail about how Biden will approach conversations with Xi and other world leaders about Trump.

Those officials say Biden also will use the summits to press allies to keep up support for Ukraine as it tries to fend off Russia's invasion and not lose sight on finding an end to the wars in Lebanon and Gaza. That includes bringing home hostages held by Hamas for more than 13 months.

Between the summits, Biden will visit the Amazon rainforest, the first such visit by a sitting U.S. president.

James Bosworth, founder of the Latin America-focused political consultancy Hxagon, said Biden will use one of his last big moments in the international spotlight “to reassure the world that transitions of power are normal for democracies.”

“Biden will get public applause and praise, even as world leaders nervously await the transition,” Bosworth said.

Biden's meeting with Xi will likely be the most consequential moment during the American president's time in South America.

Biden has tried to maintain a steady relationship with Xi even as the U.S. administration repeatedly has raised concerns about what it sees as malign action by Beijing.

U.S. intelligence officials have assessed that China has surged sales to Russia of machine tools, microelectronics and other technology that Moscow is using to produce missiles, tanks, aircraft and other weaponry to use against Ukraine. The Biden administration last month imposed sanctions on two Chinese companies accused of directly helping Russia build long-range attack drones.

Tensions flared last year after Biden ordered the shooting down of a Chinese spy balloon that traversed across the intercontinental United States. And the Biden administration has criticized Chinese military assertiveness toward Japan, the Philippines and Taiwan.

During the campaign, Trump spoke of his personal connection with Xi, which started out well during the Republican's first term before becoming strained over disputes about trade and the origins of COVID-19.

In a congratulatory message to Trump, Xi called for the U.S. and China to manage their differences and get along in a new era, according to Chinese state media.

Biden finds himself in a similar position to when then-President Barack Obama traveled to Peru in 2016 for the annual APEC leaders gathering soon after Trump's first White House victory.

World leaders peppered Obama with questions about Trump's win would mean.

“His message was to wait and see ... because we didn’t know Donald Trump,” said Victor Cha, a National Security Council official in the George W. Bush administration. “Now we’re in a very different situation where we do know what the first Trump administration was like."

Associated Press writer Isabel DeBre in Lima, Peru, contributed to this report.

U.S. President Joe Biden deplanes in Lima, Peru, to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, in Lima, Peru, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

President Joe Biden walks with Peru's Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzen as he arrives at Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima, Peru, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, to attend the APEC Summit. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

U.S. President Joe Biden, left, Peru's Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzen, center, and US Ambassador to Peru Stephanie Syptak-Ramnath wave on the airport tarmac ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, in Lima, Peru, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

Air Force One takes off with President Joe Biden aboard at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, en route to Lima, Peru to join other world leaders at the APEC Summit. (AP Photo/Jessica Rapfogel)

President Joe Biden boards Air Force One, with granddaughter Natalie Biden, to depart Joint Base Andrews, Md., Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, en route to Lima, Peru to join other world leaders at the APEC Summit. (AP Photo/Jessica Rapfogel)

President Joe Biden boards Air Force One, with granddaughter Natalie Biden, to depart Joint Base Andrews, Md., Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, en route to Lima, Peru to join other world leaders at the APEC Summit. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

President Joe Biden meets with President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

FILE - In this Saturday, June 29, 2019, file photo, U.S. President Donald Trump, left, meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan.(AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

FILE - China's President Xi Jinping applauds during a signing ceremony with Peru's President Dina Boluarte at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Friday, June 28, 2024. (Jade Gao/Pool Photo via AP, File)