The Trump/Vance administration is jeopardizing eighty years of American greatness

that has not only transformed our country but has transformed the entire world.

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Even before the Trump/Vance administration started slashing funding for research and development; spreading misinformation and perpetuating mistrust in basic science; driving talented researchers out of the country; and declaring war on our most prestigious academic centers – essentially sabotaging America’s long-standing supremacy in scientific leadership – Chinese biotech companies were developing drugs faster and cheaper than ours.

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In 2020, China was involved in less than five percent of pharmaceutical transactions worth $50 million or more. Four years later, that number had risen to almost 30 percent. In 2024, China approved 48 first-in-class medicines, over double the total in 2022. China now hosts over 7,100 clinical trials, overtaking the United States as the world’s go-to destination. Not only are Western pharmaceutical companies increasingly conducting their trials in China, but they are also progressively licensing the drug candidates that Chinese biotechs develop. Already, China controls the production of the active pharmaceutical ingredients the rest of the world – including the United States – depends on. In fact, the U.S. relies on China for 44 percent of our pharmaceutical imports (by weight) and for around 100 ingredients that can’t be sourced anywhere else.

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Now, because of the administration’s war on vaccines, China is even better positioned to overtake us as the world’s pharmaceutical leader. In January 2026, Moderna – a leading U.S. pharmaceutical and biotechnology company – announced it had scrapped plans to invest in new late-stage vaccine trials because of growing opposition to immunizations from U.S. officials.

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At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said ‌in an interview with Bloomberg TV that companies like his “cannot ‍make a return on investment if you don’t have access to the U.S. market” and that regulatory delays and a lack of support from U.S. authorities make the market size “much smaller.”

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This is one of the more outrageously irresponsible decisions being made by the Trump/Vance administration… and the list is getting long. Putting a pin in the fact that they are making life far less safe for many Americans – – for example, the consequences of President Trump’s August 2026 executive order reducing universally recommended immunizations from 18 to 11 diseases at a time when measles cases are at a 35-year high will be suffered for decades – – in 2016, the U.S. government invested heavily in a vaccine technology called mRNA, a flexible, rapid-response tech that can be reprogrammed for other pathogens after learning its genetic sequence (scientists call this a “platform” because it can be adapted quickly for new or mutating viruses). This tech is now being tested for personalized cancer vaccines, autoimmune therapies, and treatments for rare diseases.

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The Department of Defense and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency have also invested in research and development for mRNA after realizing its potential for neutralizing biological threats, including those that may be weaponized.

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These investments paid off big time. American mRNA technology is widely considered to be one of the most momentous medical advancements in decades. This breakthrough was the reason scientists were able to design a vaccine for Covid-19 so quickly, saving an estimated 20 million lives worldwide, including one million in America (human trials for the vaccine began in under 70 days).

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Astonishingly, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently announced it was unwinding 22 mRNA vaccine development projects under the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), canceling almost $500 million in investments.

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The long-term, real-world consequences of the administration’s snidely cavalier disdain for science is chilling. Thanks to the Trump/Vance administration, the European Research Council, the funding organization for academic work in the European Union, has seen a surge in applications, including nearly three times the number of American applicants compared with 2024. Seventy-five percent (75%) of the scientists and researchers who responded to a recent Nature survey said they are considering positions abroad.

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Funds for the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Food and Drug Administration have been decimated. The Trump/Vance administration pulled one billion dollars of funding from Johns Hopkins, a university world renowned for pioneering medical and public health research (they are suing). The University of Pennsylvania – famous for its work in mRNA vaccine technology and CAR T-cell therapies – originally lost $175 million (it was later restored). Columbia – distinguished for its high-level research in medicine, physics and engineering, especially nuclear science, laser technology and medical imaging – lost $400 million (this was later reduced to $180 million). Harvard University – revered for researching almost everything – initially lost $3.2 billion (a federal judge later ruled the cuts illegal).

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The National Science Foundation – an independent government agency that once directly supported 357,600 students and researchers – is awarding new grants at the slowest pace in at least 35 years (this includes STEM education, and research for biology, chemistry, climate and computer science, engineering, geosciences, math, manufacturing innovations, physics, social sciences, and weather forecasting).

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A study published in JAMA Internal Medicine in November 2025 revealed that, from the end of February to August 2025, grants for 383 clinical trials were cancelled, affecting over 74,000 trial participants. Over 100 of the axed grants were for cancer research.

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Although the Trump/Vance administration claims they are simply eliminating wasteful “woke programs” that “poison the minds of Americans,” what they are really doing is cutting funding for neuro-degenerative diseases (Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS), cancer (breast, ovarian, pancreatic, and others), mental health, diabetes, strokes, sickle cell anemia, and infectious diseases. This is devastating because around 40 percent of Americans will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their life. Strokes are the leading cause of adult disability in the United States and roughly 1 in 4 Americans over the age of 25 will have one in their lifetime.

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This is insanity. Without question, one of our greatest national strengths is our revolutionary, leading-edge scientific research. Our research solves complex problems, advances technological innovation, improves public health, and strengthens national security. It propels economic growth and prosperity – generating jobs, creating new industries, boosting GDP, and ensuring the United States remains globally competitive.

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Our research universities are immensely important engines of innovation, and federal support for them has been a driving force in our economic and military competitiveness as well as our biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. The United States has almost 300 Nobel Prizes in the sciences, with Britain coming in second with only around one-third of that number.

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When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was created in 1946, the average life expectancy in the United States was around 66 years. Today it is 78 years. In the mid-1970s, the five-year cancer-survival rate in the United States was 49 percent. Today it is 70 percent…. with the most significant survival gains happening among people diagnosed with cancers that are generally more fatal, like myeloma, liver cancer, and lung cancer. Between 1991 and 2022 alone, the death rate from cancer in the U.S. fell by 34 percent, meaning 4.5 million fewer people died of cancer than otherwise would have.

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... and all this for what? It can’t be about money because, when it comes to scientific research, the return on our investment is enormous. A study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology says that every $326 that the U.S. government spends researching cancer extends a human life by one year. Other studies have found that every dollar invested in research and development returns around $5 in economic gains – and this doesn’t consider other benefits to our GDP, like people living longer and having more leisure time.

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A study from American University’s Institute for Macroeconomic and Policy Analysis found that “budget cuts to public R&D will significantly hurt the economy in the long run, with large negative effects on GDP, investment, and government revenue. A 25 percent cut to public R&D spending would reduce GDP by an amount comparable to the decline in GDP during the Great Recession. Cutting annual public R&D spending in half would making the average American approximately $10,000 poorer (in today’s dollars) than the value implied by the historical trend in GDP. Cutting public R&D would also shrink federal government revenue. A 25 percent cut in R&D would decrease revenue by approximately 4.3 percent annually, while a 50 percent cut would decrease it by 8.6 percent annually.”