Earlier in the day, Trump met with Kennedy, a prominent environmentalist who has authored a book about his concerns that ingredients in childhood vaccines may cause autism -- a notion long debunked by the scientific community.
After that meeting, Kennedy told reporters Trump had asked him to head a commission on vaccine safety and scientific integrity, and the 62-year-old son of slain senator Bobby Kennedy and nephew of late president John F. Kennedy said he had agreed.
"He asked me to chair a commission on vaccine safety and scientific integrity," Kennedy said after the meeting, which he said Trump had called and requested.
"I said I would."
Kennedy said the job would be to "make sure we have scientific integrity in the vaccine process for efficacy and safety."
But Tuesday evening, Trump's transition team issued a statement saying that no such decision had been made.
The statement also referred to the committee in question as one on autism, not vaccine safety.
"The President-elect enjoyed his discussion with Robert Kennedy Jr. on a range of issues and appreciates his thoughts and ideas," the statement said.
"The President-elect is exploring the possibility of forming a commission on autism, which affects so many families; however no decisions have been made at this time."
