The LedeIs R.F.K., Jr., Winning or Losing?A case for cautious optimism about the Trump Administration’s war on vaccines.By Dhruv KhullarAugust 25, 2026Photograph by Jim Watson / GettySave this storySave this storySave this storySave this storyThis month, at an Oval Office event resounding with outlandish statements, President Trump signed an executive order called “Delivering Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations for Americans.” His order cut the number of vaccines the federal government recommends for all children from seventeen to eleven. It threatened legal action against states that don’t grant expansive exemptions from vaccine mandates. And it proposed that the vaccine against measles,...