Bill Gates reportedly played a quiet but powerful role in keeping Robert F. Kennedy Jr. out of Donald Trump’s first administration, according to a new book.
When Kennedy met with the then president-elect at Trump Tower in early 2017, he told reporters afterward that Trump had asked him to lead a “commission on vaccine safety and scientific integrity.” The announcement sparked immediate headlines and a wave of concern from public health experts, given Kennedy’s long history of promoting vaccine skepticism.
But the celebration didn’t last long. Spokespeople for Trump quickly backpedaled, saying no final decision had been made. Kennedy never ended up getting a position in the administration, and until now, the reason for that has been mostly speculation.
According to Retribution: Donald Trump and the Campaign That Changed America, a new book by ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl, Gates was the one who stepped in behind the scenes to shut it down. The book claims Gates personally intervened to stop Trump from giving Kennedy a formal role, using his influence to convince people in Trump’s circle that it would be a disaster.
Karl writes that after Trump took office, he met with Kennedy again at the White House. During that meeting, Trump “appeared to be persuaded” to let Kennedy lead a new task force on autism and vaccines. But the idea never went anywhere.
Trump’s fascination with vaccine safety dates back years. During the 2015 Republican primary debate, he publicly raised the issue of a possible link between vaccines and autism—something repeatedly debunked by scientists. He suggested giving “smaller doses” over longer periods, saying he had friends who “had children that went to have the vaccine and came back, and a week later, got a tremendous fever, got very, very sick, now is autistic.”
Kennedy’s views lined up with Trump’s skepticism at the time, which made their early talks seem like a natural fit. But Gates, a staunch advocate for global vaccination campaigns through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, was alarmed by the prospect of giving Kennedy a government platform.
Karl’s book suggests that Gates moved swiftly to block the appointment, warning that putting an anti-vaccine activist in charge of vaccine safety would undermine decades of progress in public health.
After Kennedy’s initial meeting, Gates reportedly began reaching out to people close to Trump, emphasizing the damage it could do to international health initiatives and to Trump’s credibility. It seems the strategy worked.
Kennedy never got the commission he believed he was promised, and the proposed vaccine task force quietly disappeared. Trump eventually shifted his attention to other issues, though his flirtation with vaccine skepticism continued throughout his presidency and beyond.
Gates has not publicly commented on the claim, but the revelation adds a new twist to the long, complicated relationship between Trump, Kennedy, and the world of vaccine politics—a debate that’s only gotten louder since the pandemic.