America’s declining birth rate is an issue worrying some of the most high-profile conservatives, who say the country faces dire fiscal and cultural consequences without course correction — but they can’t agree on what to do about it.
President Donald Trump cited historic lows in U.S. fertility rates in his executive order about in vitro fertilization. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy declared he wants more grants to go to places with higher birth rates. And Vice President JD Vance, a long-outspoken advocate for increasing the number of children born in the U.S., invoked the issue in his first speech after the start of the second Trump administration.
It’s one of Elon Musk’s pet issues, too. Musk, who has at least a dozen children, has posted his concerns about an incoming “catastrophic population collapse” for years, pointing to declining U.S. fertility rates. He’s even said the issue poses a greater risk to humanity than climate change.