Major News - Melania Makes Stunning Announcement Alongside President Trump
First Lady Melania Trump helped shape a new administration initiative focused on women’s health as President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday establishing a White House task force and a new division within the National Institutes of Health.
The order, titled “Advancing Women’s Health to Improve Outcomes in All Phases of Life,” directs the Department of Health and Human Services to create a Women’s Health Division at the NIH within 90 days. It also establishes the White House Women’s Health Task Force, co-chaired by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.
Melania Trump played a central role in developing the initiative, meeting with physicians and other experts and urging the administration to address what the White House describes as longstanding gaps in research involving women.
“This is a transformative moment for women in America,” the first lady said at the White House announcement, adding that the administration intended to set a new standard for women’s health.
NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya said the new division is intended to close gaps in medical evidence and help move scientific discoveries toward patients, especially in areas where women have lacked clear answers about diagnosis and treatment.
The division will focus on conditions that uniquely or disproportionately affect women, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, autoimmune disorders, osteoporosis, chronic pain, endometriosis, fibroids, infertility, maternal health and menopause.
It will work alongside the NIH’s existing Office of Research on Women’s Health, not replace it. The order directs the new division to coordinate research and help translate discoveries more quickly into prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
The executive order also calls for greater participation by women and girls in clinical trials and stronger enforcement of NIH requirements that federally funded research account for biological sex when appropriate.
Melania Trump outlined five priorities for the effort. They include directing research funding toward diseases that uniquely affect women and using advanced artificial intelligence to improve scientists’ understanding of female biology.
Her other priorities are accelerating promising therapies from laboratories to patients while maintaining safety standards, making medical breakthroughs more accessible and affordable, and encouraging more education and discussion about women’s health issues that have received less public attention.
“Our mission must serve women at every stage of life,” the first lady said, describing an approach that spans childhood, motherhood, middle age, menopause and later life.
President Trump praised his wife for driving the proposal and said the administration intends to pursue more research into diseases affecting women that have historically been understudied. He said he initially questioned whether the NIH already had a dedicated division when Melania raised the idea. The agency has operated its Office of Research on Women’s Health since 1990.
The task force held its first working session Monday afternoon, beginning coordination of women’s health policy across federal agencies.
The administration says the effort will take a lifespan approach, covering needs from infancy and adolescence through reproductive years, pregnancy, midlife, menopause and healthy aging.
HHS cited several earlier administration efforts as part of that strategy, including expanded research into infertility and endometriosis, changes involving menopause treatment, maternal health programs and a proposed pathway for certain fertility benefits.
The department also held its first National Conference on Women’s Health in March, bringing together researchers, physicians, policymakers and advocates to discuss gaps in research and treatment.
The order does not specify a new funding amount, leaving open how much additional federal money will ultimately go to the division and its research priorities.
It also revokes two Biden administration actions: a March 2024 executive order on women’s health research and a November 2023 presidential memorandum establishing the Biden White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research.