Trump Pushes Back On Florida Plan To End All School Vax Mandates

President Donald Trump on Friday evening pushed back on Florida’s plan to eliminate all vaccine mandates, including school requirements.

Trump said Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo’s plan was a “tough stance” and emphasized that some vaccines are “not controversial” and should generally be taken to protect children.

“I think we have to be very careful,” he told the press from the Oval Office. “You have some vaccines that are so amazing: the polio vaccine, I happen to think is amazing. A lot of people think that COVID [vaccine] is amazing. You know, there are many people that believe strongly in that.”

“You have some vaccines that are so incredible, and I think you have to be very careful when you say that some people don’t have to be vaccinated,” the president reiterated. “It’s a very tough position.”

“Initially, I heard about it yesterday,” Trump said of the Florida vaccine initiative. “And it’s a tough stance. You have vaccines that work — just pure and simple, they work, they’re not controversial at all. And I think those vaccines should be used, otherwise some people are going to catch it and they endanger other people. And when you don’t have controversy at all, I think people should take it.”

WATCH:

???? BREAKING: President Trump pushes back on Florida removing all vaccine mandates, including for schoolchildren. He says some vaccines are a must.

“I think we have to be careful. You have some vaccines that are so amazing. The Polio vaccine I think is amazing. A lot of people… pic.twitter.com/PsTGMIBaWl

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) September 5, 2025

Dr. Ladapo, alongside Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, announced on Wednesday that the Sunshine State will end all vaccination mandates, including requirements for schools.

“The Florida Department of Health, in partnership with the government, is working to end all vaccine mandates in Florida law — all of them,” Ladapo said. “Every last one of them.”

Ladapo said the government has no right to tell parents what to put in their children’s bodies, or their own bodies.

“Every last [mandate] is wrong and drips with disdain — and slavery,” he argued. “Who am I, or anyone else … to tell you what you should put in your body? Who am I to tell you what your child should put in [their] body?”

“I don’t have that right,” he continued. “Your body is a gift from God. What you put into your body is because of your relationship with your body and your God. I don’t have that right. Government does not have that right.”

???? MAJOR BREAKING: The Surgeon General of Florida just announced ALL VACCINE MANDATES IN FLORIDA will be ENDED, and the room erupted.

All. Not just COVID. ALL.

JOSEPH LADAPO: “Every last one is wrong and DRIPS with disdain and slavery! Who am I, or anyone else, to tell YOU what… pic.twitter.com/Kah5LscGTo

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) September 3, 2025

Ending vaccine requirements for schoolchildren would be a seismic change — every state in the nation currently has school vaccine requirements. Additionally, liberal states have increasingly nixed religious exemptions for families looking to opt their children out of some requirements.

Gov. DeSantis on Friday seemed to reiterate his support for the plan. During remarks at the second annual State Freedom Caucus Summit, the governor boosted the right to medical freedom and said he didn’t believe the government should coerce people into certain treatment, The Daily Wire reported.

Gov. DeSantis has led the charge on the issue of medical freedom in the wake of aggressive COVID policies. In 2023, for example, he signed a set of medical freedom measures into law, which banned mask and vaccine mandates and added new conscience protections for health care providers.

Related: First In The Nation: Florida To End All Vaccine Mandates