Trump signs order creating NIH women's health division and White House task force

Compiled from reports by Al Jazeera, NBC News and CBS News. See the original articles linked below.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday, October 19, creating a women's health division inside the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and a White House Women's Health Task Force, according to Al Jazeera, NBC News and CBS News.

CBS News reported that the signing took place in the Rose Garden, with First Lady Melania Trump present. The network said Trump credited her with the idea and that her own signature on the document carries no legal weight. Al Jazeera wrote that she had championed the order and described it as a transformative moment for women's health in the United States.

Division and task force

Al Jazeera reported that the order gives the administration 90 days to establish the division, which is meant to speed scientific discovery, widen clinical access and modernise care across the stages of a woman's life. Both Al Jazeera and NBC News, the latter citing Reuters, said the new body will not replace the existing NIH Office of Research on Women's Health but will have a mandate broader than research alone.

NBC News and Al Jazeera said the task force will be led by White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Al Jazeera added that the order has the Department of Health and Human Services cover the task force's administrative costs but names no dollar figures. CBS News similarly reported that Trump said more details would come soon without giving funding amounts. CBS News also said Trump praised Wiles, who recently announced she is cancer-free after breast cancer treatment.

The first lady's priorities

CBS News said Melania Trump set out five goals: steering research money toward conditions that affect women disproportionately, using artificial intelligence to speed up discoveries, accelerating new therapies, making breakthroughs affordable, and reducing the stigma around discussing women's health. Al Jazeera noted that her office's framework includes research on diseases such as endometriosis and quicker access to promising treatments. NBC News said she spoke of using AI and of improving access to and the affordability of care.

CBS News quoted White House spokeswoman Allison Schuster as saying the task force will work to close research gaps and strengthen care for women at every stage of life.

Wider context reported by the outlets

Al Jazeera wrote that critics question how effective the order will be, pointing to layoffs at the NIH, reported spending cuts of 35 percent, and the 2025 decision to end contracts for the Women's Health Initiative.

NBC News, relaying the Reuters report, listed other administration health actions: cuts affecting the NIH and a downsizing of the federal health workforce; an effort to cut NIH grants on diversity-related research; a reported move to let political appointees control health-research funding; a safety review of the abortion pill mifepristone, which medical groups have criticized as politically motivated; and the removal of a long-standing safety warning from many hormone replacement therapy products, which NBC News said has contributed to shortages. It added that the administration has urged more manufacturers to study testosterone therapies for women and now requires Title X family planning applicants to align their programs with its priorities, a requirement that has drawn legal action.

Sources

This article was compiled with AI assistance from the reports listed above and reviewed by GMA before publishing.