Obama Gets Involved Again After Latest Trump Announcement

Former President Barack Obama took aim at Donald Trump this week, condemning his successor’s warning about Tylenol use during pregnancy as “violence against the truth” that could endanger women.

Speaking at London’s O2 Arena with historian David Olusoga, Obama said Trump’s remarks were “continuously disproved” and harmful to public health.

“We have the spectacle of my successor in the Oval Office making broad claims around certain drugs and autism that have been continuously disproved,” Obama said. “It undermines public health … that can do harm to women.”

Trump on Monday had urged expectant mothers to consult doctors about limiting Tylenol, saying, “Taking Tylenol is not good … All pregnant women should talk to their doctors about limiting the use of this medication while pregnant.”

The backlash was swift. UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting told women to ignore Trump’s comments, while Obama accused his successor of undermining trust in science.

At the same event, Obama also warned of a global “tug of war” between democratic values and populist movements, accusing Trump of wanting to return America to “a very particular way of thinking … where ‘we, the people,’ is just some people, not all people.” He said progressives, meanwhile, had grown “complacent” and “smug” in the late 20th century, weakening their ability to defend core values.

Obama did not mention Trump by name, instead referring to him repeatedly as “my successor.” The evening also featured London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who Trump had recently labeled at the UN as unfit for office. Khan fired back by calling Trump “racist, sexist, misogynistic, and Islamophobic.”

Obama’s London stop is part of a European speaking tour that will also take him to Dublin, where he is set to receive the Freedom of the City of Dublin.

Meanwhile, back in Washington, the Trump administration framed its Tylenol warning within a broader health initiative. Standing alongside President Trump in the Roosevelt Room, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the first FDA-recognized treatment pathway for autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

“For too long, families have been left without answers or options as autism rates have soared,” Kennedy said. “Today, we are taking bold action—opening the door to the first FDA-recognized treatment pathway, informing doctors and families about potential risks, and investing in groundbreaking research.”

The White House briefing outlined that the FDA would update labeling for leucovorin, used in cerebral folate deficiency, now linked to certain autism symptoms. The move establishes the first FDA-recognized therapeutic intervention for children with ASD-related speech deficits. State Medicaid programs will be able to cover the treatment, while the NIH launches confirmatory trials and expanded research.

“While promising, it is important to note that leucovorin is not a cure for ASD and may only lead to improvements in speech-related deficits for a subset of children with ASD,” the briefing said.

The split-screen moment—Obama denouncing Trump’s remarks abroad while the administration unveiled a groundbreaking autism treatment at home—underscored the sharp divide in how both men frame science, public health, and America’s role in leading global debates.