WASHINGTON, Sept 20 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald

Trump said on Saturday his administration would make an

announcement about its autism findings on Monday, declining to

offer specifics.

"We're going to have an announcement on autism on Monday,"

Trump said at a dinner hosted by the conservative American

Cornerstone Institute. "I think it's gonna be a very important

announcement. I think it's gonna be one of the most important

things that we will do."

The Wall Street Journal reported this month that Health

Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to announce that use of

Kenvue's ( KVUE ) popular over-the-counter pain medication

Tylenol by pregnant women is potentially linked to autism,

contrary to medical guidelines that say it is safe to use.

Autism diagnoses in the United States have increased

significantly since 2000, intensifying public concern. By 2020,

the U.S. autism rate in 8-year-olds was 1 in 36, or 2.77%, up

from 2.27% in 2018 and 0.66% in 2000, according to the Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention.

Kennedy has asserted that the U.S. is in the grip of an

"autism epidemic" fueled by "environmental toxins." Decades of

research has not yielded firm answers on what contributes to

autism, but many scientists believe genetics, potentially in

combination with environmental influences, play a role.

Trump teased another announcement coming next week, saying

his administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid

Services, Mehmet Oz, would roll out a "most favored nation"

model for drug pricing. This is meant to lower U.S. prescription

drug prices to the lowest paid by countries that are members of

the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development,

which includes most of the world's largest economies.

"Dr. Oz is in charge and he's a smart, tough guy, and I hope

he's going to do this," Trump told the event. "And if nations

give us a hard time, we're going to tariff them."