Trump Signs Women’s Health Order, Creates NIH Division

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday creating a dedicated women’s health division at the National Institutes of Health and a White House task force to direct federal research toward conditions including endometriosis, maternal mortality and Alzheimer’s disease. The directive contains no funding targets.

First lady Melania Trump drove the initiative after a series of meetings with federal health officials, according to the White House. She is scheduled to speak at the signing ceremony about accelerating treatments and reducing taboos surrounding women’s medical issues. “It was abundantly clear that women’s healthcare needs to be modernized, the research gap closed, and further, the need to accelerate the discovery of treatments and cures was glaring,” she said in a statement released by the White House.

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, who recently completed treatment for breast cancer, and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will lead the new task force. The first lady helped shape both the order and the task force structure in consultation with physicians, Kennedy and the president, the White House said.

The absence of specific funding goals limits the immediate operational impact of the order. Establishing a new division within the NIH requires congressional appropriations or internal budget reallocation, neither of which the directive addresses. Federal health research spending has faced intense scrutiny this year as the administration pursues broad cost-cutting measures across government agencies.

Historically, women have been underrepresented in clinical trials. Congress mandated the inclusion of women in NIH-funded research through the Revitalization Act of 1993, but disparities persist in areas such as cardiovascular disease, where symptoms frequently present differently than in men, leading to higher misdiagnosis rates.

Beyond maternal health, mental health and endometriosis, the order directs attention to osteoporosis, heart disease and stroke, according to the White House.

The policy push expands the first lady’s portfolio in Trump’s second term. She previously focused on improving foster care systems and expanding technology and artificial-intelligence access in education. During the first presidency, her signature Be Best initiative targeted child well-being, safe social media use and drug abuse reduction.

The executive order was first reported by USA Today.

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