President Donald Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is terminating awards totaling more than $750 million dollars that were provided to pharmaceutical manufacturer Moderna to help facilitate its production of mRNA-based bird flu vaccines. 

During President Joe Biden’s final week in office, his administration awarded $590 million to Moderna to help speed up its production of mRNA-based vaccines. The $590 million award followed a separate $176 million award Biden gave to Moderna earlier last year for mRNA vaccine technology.

Messenger RNA vaccines are a newer type of vaccine technology, which was utilized by companies like Moderna and Pfizer to develop their COVID-19 vaccines. The vaccine technology was at the center of a lot of criticism amid the coronavirus pandemic for potentially being associated with adverse side effects in some people who took them, such as myocarditis.

Trump administration officials previously hinted at the potential that this funding could be terminated, citing a lack of oversight during the Biden administration pertaining to vaccine production. 

‘After a rigorous review, we concluded that continued investment in Moderna’s H5N1 mRNA vaccine was not scientifically or ethically justifiable,’ HHS Communications Director Andrew Nixon said. ‘This is not simply about efficacy — it’s about safety, integrity, and trust. The reality is that mRNA technology remains under-tested, and we are not going to spend taxpayer dollars repeating the mistakes of the last administration, which concealed legitimate safety concerns from the public.’

The announcement reflects a larger shift in federal vaccine priorities, after HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced earlier this week that COVID-19 vaccines would be removed from the federal government’s list of recommended vaccines for children and pregnant women. 

Meanwhile, a report from Senate Republicans released earlier this month suggested the Biden administration withheld critical safety data and downplayed known risks tied to the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. In particular, the Senate report focuses on HHS’ awareness of, and response to, cases of myocarditis — a type of heart inflammation — following COVID-19 vaccination.

‘Rather than provide the public and health care providers with immediate and transparent information regarding the risk of myocarditis following mRNA COVID-19 vaccination, the Biden administration waited until late June 2021 to announce changes to the labels for the Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines based on the ‘suggested increased risks’ of myocarditis and pericarditis,’ the Senate report states. ‘Even though CDC and FDA officials were well aware of the risk of myocarditis following COVID-19 vaccination, the Biden administration opted to withhold issuing a formal warning to the public for months about the safety concerns, jeopardizing the health of young Americans.’

In response to the Trump administration’s funding termination, Moderna put out a press release acknowledging the move, but also touting the ‘safety profile’ observed amid its work on a new mRNA bird flu vaccine.

‘While the termination of funding from HHS adds uncertainty, we are pleased by the robust immune response and safety profile observed in this interim analysis of the Phase 1/2 study of our H5 avian flu vaccine and we will explore alternative paths forward for the program,’ said Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna. ‘These clinical data in pandemic influenza underscore the critical role mRNA technology has played as a countermeasure to emerging health threats.’

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. met with Argentine President Javier Milei on Tuesday at the Casa Rosada, where both leaders reaffirmed plans to withdraw their nations from the World Health Organization (WHO) and build a new international health framework.

The meeting brought together two strong-willed political outsiders. Milei, a libertarian economist known for cutting government spending, and Kennedy, a Trump-appointed health chief skeptical of pandemic-era mandates. Both promised to challenge what they call global overreach and politicized health policy.

Argentina officially confirmed its exit from the WHO during Kennedy’s visit, following Milei’s initial announcement in February. The move aligns with President Trump’s revived pledge to pull the U.S. out of the WHO as part of his ‘Make America Healthy Again’ (MAHA) agenda.

Milei’s government blasted the WHO for what it called a failed COVID response. ‘The WHO’s prescriptions do not work because they are not based on science but on political interests and bureaucratic structures that refuse to review their own mistakes,’ the government said, referring to the group’s lockdown strategy as a ‘caveman quarantine.’

Kennedy offered support, encouraging other countries to also exit the WHO in a recent address to the World Health Assembly. He has argued the organization is compromised by foreign governments and corporate interests, and that a fresh approach is needed.

After the meeting, Kennedy posted on X: ‘I had a wonderful meeting with President Milei about the mutual withdrawal of our nations from the WHO and the creation of an alternative international health system… free from totalitarian impulses, corruption, and political control.’

Both governments say the new alliance will prioritize real science, individual freedom, and national sovereignty, pushing back against what Milei’s team calls ‘interference’ from global agencies.

The meeting also highlighted shared philosophies between the two leaders. Milei took office vowing to slash Argentina’s massive public spending. He famously carried a chainsaw during his campaign to symbolize budget cuts—and has since followed through, cutting public salaries, halting state projects, and ending energy subsidies.

His tough measures have produced results: Argentina posted its first budget surplus in nearly 15 years and sharply reduced monthly inflation.

Kennedy’s MAHA campaign echoes Milei’s anti-establishment style, but in the health sector. The Trump administration’s health agenda has focused on rolling back federal overreach, enforcing science-based policy, and promoting transparency in public health.

Tuesday’s meeting marks a deeper alignment between Argentina and the current U.S. administration. Milei has welcomed top American officials in recent months and shown clear interest in building strong ties with Washington. Now, by joining the U.S. in rejecting the WHO, Milei becomes the first foreign leader to openly back Trump’s health sovereignty push.

The decision is a major departure from Argentina’s previous international partnerships and could signal a shift for other countries weighing similar moves. Both Milei and Kennedy have framed the initiative as the start of a more accountable and independent global health network.

Critics, including some in Argentina’s opposition, warn that leaving the WHO could limit access to funding and vaccines. Global health experts largely defend the WHO’s role, despite acknowledging its COVID missteps.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Despite assurances from Trump administration officials that farmers will not be impacted by its attempts to reduce environmental chemical exposure from foods, agricultural leaders have been expressing concern that the move will explode costs for farmers and more than double the cost of food. 

The administration’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission, made up of many of President Donald Trump’s political appointees and closest policy advisors, released an assessment strategizing how they will tackle childhood chronic diseases, such as obesity and mental health challenges. Part of the report’s focus is on children’s chemical exposure from our foods, which the report says is linked to developmental issues and chronic diseases.   

Amid the report’s release, farm groups have expressed concern over the MAHA agenda’s focus on pesticides. They have said that if the administration starts clamping down on widely used pesticides, crop yields would decline, input costs would surge and food costs would more than double.

‘Farmers are already facing a host of challenges—uncertainty about their access to critical crop protection products shouldn’t be added to the list,’ said Elizabeth Burns-Thompson, Executive Director of the Modern Ag Alliance. ‘Crop protection tools are not only safe, they are essential to food security, affordability, and the survival of family farms all across this country. Losing access to these critical inputs would be a devastating setback to American agriculture.’

Officials from the MAHA Commission sought to reassure farmers at an event releasing their assessment on childhood chronic diseases on Thursday. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said that ‘at the center’ of the MAHA agenda is ‘making American agriculture great again.’

‘We love our farmers, and we want to pay respect to our farmers. And we always will,’ President Trump added at the Thursday event from the White House. ‘We won the farmers by a lot in the election, and every election, all three elections – and we won by a lot. I will never forget that. And they are foremost in our thought.’

But some farmers are still expressing concern.

‘The Make America Healthy Again Report is filled with fear-based rather than science-based information about pesticides. We are deeply troubled that claims of this magnitude are being made without any scientific basis or regard for a long history of EPA expert evaluations of these products,’ the National Corn Grower’s Alliance (NCGA) said. ‘We call on the administration to respect the existing body of science on pesticides and, moving forward, to include America’s farmers in discussion as this process evolves.’ 

According to a statement put out by the Modern Ag Alliance, pesticides are ‘rigorously tested’ by the federal government, noting that in the case of glyphosate – mentioned multiple times in the MAHA report – it is one of the most thoroughly studied pesticides of its kind. 

They said that if the MAHA report drives future policy decisions it would hurt farmers and more than double the cost of food.

‘Without glyphosate—the most widely used weed-fighting tool by U.S. farmers—crop yields would decline, input costs would surge by 150%, and food inflation would more than double,’ the group said. ‘When Sri Lanka prohibited the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers in 2021, crop yields fell by over 50%, forcing the government to import massive amounts of food just to meet basic needs. We should be focused on moving American agriculture—and the country—forward.’

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has been a vocal opponent against the dangerous health impacts of under-regulated pesticides even before he was the MAHA Commission’s leader, said last week in a Senate hearing that ‘we cannot take any step that will put a single farmer in this country out of business.’

‘There’s a million farmers who rely on glyphosate,’ he said. ‘100% of corn in this country relies on glyphosate. We are not going to do anything to jeopardize that business model.’ 

The MAHA report reiterates the economic importance of protecting farmers, but it also lists glyphosate in an infographic of ‘Chemical Classes and Common Exposure Pathways’ and says research studies have shown it can cause a range of health effects. It also lists atrazine and other chemicals as dangerous to childhood health.   

MAHA Commission officials have said that part of the administration’s focus will be a return to the gold standard of science, but the NCGA said the focus on certain widely-used pesticides, such as atrazine and glyphosate, goes against ‘decades of extensive research and testing.’

‘If the administration’s goal is to bring more efficiency to government, then why is the secretary of Health and Human Services duplicating efforts by raising questions about pesticides that have been answered repeatedly through research and reviews by federal regulatory bodies?’ the group questioned.

Jennifer Galardi, a senior policy analyst focused on health and wellness issues at the Heritage Foundation, took a more balanced view of the MAHA commission’s strategy towards pesticides like glyphosate, noting that it appeared to thread the needle between supporting farmers and trying to ensure America’s food supply is safe and free of chemicals that could impact child health. 

‘The MAHA Commission Report seems to carefully examine competing issues in a very complex agricultural debate: the potential that crop protection tools as they’re referred to in the report may cause adverse health outcomes and the desire to protect the economic interests of farmers and the country,’ Galardi said. ‘However, everyone should agree that the companies that manufacture products such as glyphosate and GMO’s shouldn’t have undue influence over the research upon which sound policy is based. The American public should demand transparency around these decisions.’

Galardi posited that, due to the tension around the issue of pesticides, the MAHA Commission may decide to go after ‘low-hanging fruit,’ such as improving children’s diets and lack of physical activity, which, she said, are big drivers of obesity and metabolic dysfunction.

In response to this article, a USDA spokesperson sent the following statement from Secretary Rollins:

‘We must do more to improve the health outcomes of our kids and families, and President Trump knows agriculture is at the heart of the solution. America’s farmers and ranchers dedicate their lives to the noble cause of feeding their country and the world, and in doing so have created the safest and most abundant and affordable food supply in the world. We are working to make sure our kids and families are consuming the healthiest food we produce. I look forward to continuing to work with Secretary Kennedy and other members of the MAHA Commission to improve our nation’s health.’

White House spokesman Kush Desai, in a separate statement, echoed Rollins’ sentiment about the importance of agriculture and farmers when it comes to executing the MAHA mission. He also reiterated that the MAHA movement is grounded in ‘Gold Standard of Science.’

‘The guiding principle of President Trump’s movement to Make America Healthy Again is the Gold Standard of Science, and everyone from America’s farmers to everyday parents are critical for the success of this movement,’ Desai said. ‘The MAHA Commission’s report is a historic step by our government to, for the first time, comprehensively review the latest evidence and research of what we know – and what we don’t know – is driving the health crisis afflicting America’s children.’