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FalseHealthLast updated: July 10, 2026

Trump said "Nothing bad can happen, it can only good happen"

In September 2025, Trump said "nothing bad can happen, it can only good happen" while promoting an unproven Tylenol–autism link at a White House press event. The phrase went viral as a word salad, but the more serious issue was the medically misleading advice to pregnant women.

Written by Iggy Pomp · Reviewed by Igor Pomper · Last updated July 10, 2026

What we know

On September 22, 2025, President Trump held a White House press event, alongside Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to announce a claimed link between acetaminophen (Tylenol) use during pregnancy and autism. While advising pregnant women to avoid the drug even for fever, Trump said, "Nothing bad can happen, it can only good happen. But with Tylenol, don't take it. Don't take it!" The quote is authentic and was captured on video by multiple outlets, including The Bulwark and C-SPAN footage widely circulated afterward.

The phrase went viral primarily because of its garbled, motivational-poster phrasing, but health organizations focused on a more serious problem: the underlying medical advice contradicts the evidence. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists called the announcement disturbing and said it lacked reliable evidence, while the American Academy of Pediatrics reiterated that acetaminophen remains the only over-the-counter pain and fever reliever considered generally safe in pregnancy when used as directed. Both organizations warned that untreated high fever during pregnancy carries its own documented risks, including neural tube defects, congenital heart defects, miscarriage, and preterm birth, particularly when fever occurs during critical periods of fetal development.

The scientific record on acetaminophen and autism is more nuanced than either a simple confirmation or denial. Some earlier observational studies found a small statistical association between prenatal acetaminophen exposure and later autism or ADHD diagnoses. The most rigorous test of that association came from a 2024 study published in JAMA, led by researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and Drexel University, which examined nearly 2.5 million children born in Sweden between 1995 and 2019. Using a sibling-control design, comparing children from the same family where one sibling was exposed to acetaminophen in utero and another was not, the study found the increased risk disappeared entirely once shared genetic and family factors were accounted for, with a hazard ratio of 0.98 for autism, statistically indistinguishable from no effect at all. The researchers concluded that the small associations seen in earlier, less rigorous studies were most likely explained by genetic and environmental factors shared within families rather than by the drug itself.

The FDA has stated that a causal relationship between acetaminophen and autism has not been established, and other health authorities, including the NHS and the World Health Organization, continue to list acetaminophen as an appropriate option for pain and fever in pregnancy at the lowest effective dose. Trump's own event also included a claim that low Tylenol use explains lower reported autism rates in Cuba and the Amish community, assertions that BBC Verify found were not supported by any official comparative statistics.

In this context, "nothing bad can happen, it can only good happen" functioned less as a scientific claim and more as a rhetorical guarantee attached to medical advice that public health bodies immediately disputed. The risk identified by doctors was not the phrase's grammar but its practical effect: discouraging pregnant women experiencing high fever from taking the one medication considered safe for that purpose, based on an autism link that the largest and most rigorously controlled study to date did not confirm.

Common claims

  • Trump's phrase was just an amusing verbal slip with no real consequence.Not supported - the underlying medical advice was disputed by major medical bodies
  • There is solid scientific evidence that Tylenol use in pregnancy causes autism.Not supported - the largest sibling-controlled study found no causal link
  • Pregnant women should avoid Tylenol altogether because of autism risk.Not supported and potentially harmful, according to ACOG and AAP
  • Untreated fever during pregnancy carries no risk.False - untreated high fever is linked to miscarriage, preterm birth, and birth defects

Evidence hierarchy

01Acetaminophen Use During Pregnancy and Children's Risk of Autism, ADHD, and Intellectual DisabilityJAMA sibling-controlled study of nearly 2.5 million Swedish children found no causal link between prenatal acetaminophen use and autism once family factors were controlled.02American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists statement on acetaminophen and pregnancyACOG called the White House announcement disturbing and said it lacked reliable supporting evidence.03American Academy of Pediatrics guidance on medication safety in pregnancyAAP reiterated that acetaminophen remains the safest available OTC option for pain and fever in pregnancy.04Fact-checking claims Trump made about autismBBC Verify examined Trump and Kennedy's claims and found the Tylenol-autism link and Cuba/Amish comparisons unsupported by evidence.05Research shows no causal link between Tylenol and autismSummary of the JAMA sibling-control findings and their implications for pregnancy guidance.

All sources

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