Trump’s systematic demolition of public health

Jessica Knurick, PhD, RDN published a comprehensive list of things the Trump admin did to harm public health. It is as impressive as it is frightening; allow me to show it to you:

Food Assistance & Nutrition Access 

• Eliminated USDA’s local food program connecting farmers to schools.
• Eliminated USDA’s Farm-to-Food Bank program that helped food banks source fresh, local food.
• Cut funding for the Patrick Leahy Farm to School Program, which supported hands-on nutrition education and local food sourcing in schools.
• Proposed $1.3B cuts to WIC, slashing fruit and vegetable benefits for at-risk women, infants, and children.
• Proposed over $300 billion in SNAP cuts, which could result in 3.2 million individuals losing access to nutrition assistance.
• Halted USDA food deliveries to food banks, worsening supply during high demand.
• Defunded SNAP-Ed, reducing nutrition education for low-income families.

Food Safety & Regulation Rollbacks

• FDA budget cuts paired with plans to shift food inspections to state agencies, weakening oversight and consistency.
• Massive staff cuts at the FDA, including food safety scientists and inspectors — an estimated one-third of the food safety workforce has been let go.
• Cut food toxicologist staff at FDA responsible for evaluating chemical risks in the food supply.
• Jim Jones, former EPA official and head of FDA’s Human Foods Program, resigned in protest, stating he could no longer protect the food supply under the current conditions.
• Suspended the Food Emergency Response Network’s proficiency testing program, limiting early detection of foodborne threats.
• Paused milk quality testing during the bird flu outbreak, raising public safety concerns.
• Eliminated USDA food safety advisory committees, silencing key scientific voices on foodborne risks.
• Proposed permanent increases in meat processing line speeds, ignoring warnings from labor and food safety experts.
• Continued deregulatory mandates requiring agencies to eliminate ten existing regulations for every new one introduced, undermining long-term food safety infrastructure.

Scientific Research & Public Health Infrastructure

• Proposed $18B in NIH cuts; plan to consolidate 27 research centers.
• Froze new NIH grants and terminated 694 existing awards totaling $1.81 billion, disrupting research on cancer, HIV, ALS, and other critical health issues.
• Halted all federal grant funding via OMB memo (later withdrawn under court pressure).
• Barred NIH subawards to foreign institutions, cutting off international research partnerships.
• Removed 8,000+ public-facing federal health and science webpages, including datasets on youth risk behavior, reproductive health, and environmental hazards.
• Announced a major restructuring of HHS with a plan to eliminate 20,000 positions, weakening the workforce behind public health programs and research infrastructure.
• Eliminated CDC’s Division of Environmental Health Services and Practices, which included programs addressing childhood lead poisoning, asthma, safe water, radiation exposure, and climate-related health risks.
• Eliminated all NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) programs except for the World Trade Center and Black Lung Disease programs, gutting workplace safety and occupational health research.
• Proposed elimination of the Head Start program, disrupting early education, health screenings, and nutrition services for low-income families.
• Proposed elimination of the Healthy Start, a proven program that reduces maternal and infant mortality by employing women in low-income communities to provide health education and support for pregnant and postpartum families.
• Eliminated the CDC Division of Oral Health, ending federal support for preventing tooth decay and promoting dental health in underserved communities.
• Pushed back against community water fluoridation efforts, and initiated steps to end federal support for community water fluoridation.
• Eliminated the federal Newborn Screening Advisory Committee, disrupting evidence-based updates to newborn screening and risking delayed diagnoses.
• Targeted CDC’s Chronic Disease Division (NCCDPHP) for elimination, undermining programs focused on tobacco prevention, cancer screening, and school health.
• Terminated $11.4 billion from the CDC’s COVID Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity (ELC) grant program, undermining state efforts to modernize public health data infrastructure, lab capacity, and disease surveillance systems.
• Terminated multiple HIV surveillance and prevention research programs, including the Adolescent HIV Prevention Network and NIH-funded provider training initiatives, weakening national data systems and care delivery pipelines.
• Closed CDC’s Division of STD Prevention and Viral Hepatitis laboratories, which previously served as global reference centers for tracking antibiotic resistance and emerging infectious threats.
• Eliminated the HHS Office of Climate Change and Health Equity (OCCHE), which addresses the health impacts of climate change on vulnerable communities.
• Withdrew the U.S. from the World Health Organization, severing access to global disease surveillance systems and pandemic coordination.

Communication Suppression & Scientific Censorship

• Imposed a communications freeze at CDC and other health agencies, delaying public health guidance and halting the MMWR.
• Required all federal health agency guidance to be reviewed by political appointees.
• Censored terms like “equity,” “diversity,” “nonbinary,” and “systemic racism” in federal research and agency communications.
• Censored federal scientists critical of administration narratives — including Kevin Hall, whose research on ultra-processed food was reportedly suppressed, and who subsequently resigned.
• Promoted misinformation about seed oils, infant formula, and CGMs as diet tools over evidence-based obesity treatment, fueling distrust in public health recommendations.

Vaccines & Immunization Policy

• Canceled key CDC and FDA vaccine advisory meetings, including sessions on flu strain selection and childhood immunization schedules, disrupting routine vaccine planning and oversight.
• Removed COVID-19 vaccines from the CDC’s routine immunization schedule for healthy children and pregnant women, despite established benefits in preventing severe outcomes.
• Limited approval of updated COVID-19 vaccines to seniors and high-risk groups, requiring new clinical trials for broader use, potentially restricting access for millions of Americans.
• Terminated $258 million in HIV vaccine research funding, setting back global efforts to develop a viable HIV vaccine by an estimated decade.
• Canceled a $600 million contract with Moderna for avian flu vaccine development, raising concerns about pandemic preparedness and national health security.

Environmental Health & Deregulation

• EPA launched the “biggest deregulation day in U.S. history,” targeting environmental protections across multiple sectors.
• Rolled back environmental protections related to agriculture and industry, including expanded coal operations that increase mercury, arsenic, and lead in soil, water, and food.
• Rolled back PFAS drinking water protections, despite mounting evidence of harm.
• Slashed EPA staff and budget by $300 million, including deep cuts to enforcement and environmental justice teams.
• Cut clean energy programs on farms and in rural communities, reducing support for climate-smart agriculture.
• Defunded programs designed to protect disadvantaged communities facing disproportionate environmental harm.
• Proposed eliminating the EPA’s Office of Research and Development, potentially terminating up to 75% of its 1,540 staff members, including chemists, biologists, and toxicologists. This move has been criticized as undermining the agency’s scientific integrity and legislative mandates.
• Established an email system allowing industrial polluters to request presidential exemptions from Clean Air Act regulations, enabling companies to bypass rules on toxic emissions like mercury and arsenic
• CDC unable to assist with lead contamination crisis in Wisconsin due to understaffing and budget cuts.

Healthcare Access, Drug Costs, and Tobacco Policy

• Proposed deep cuts to Medicaid, including block grants and work requirements, which the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates would result in 8.6 million people losing health insurance.
• Shortened Affordable Care Act (ACA) open enrollment periods, making it harder for people to sign up for insurance.
• Reversed Medicare drug negotiation policy, allowing pharmaceutical companies to raise prescription drug prices without limits.
• Rescinded Biden-era EMTALA guidance requiring emergency rooms to provide abortion care when a pregnant patient’s life is at risk
• Suspended J-1 visa processing, threatening to strand residency programs and worsen healthcare workforce shortages as the July 1 start date approaches.
• Proposed major cuts to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), including suicide prevention and community mental health grants, despite rising mental health needs.
• Reversed the planned menthol cigarette ban, despite overwhelming evidence it would save lives and reduce tobacco-related health disparities, particularly in Black communities.

Global Health and Foreign Aid

• Froze $43 billion in USAID funding without notice, halting vaccine distribution, disaster relief, and food aid programs.
• Announced plans to merge or eliminate USAID under a “government efficiency” strategy.
• Paused PEPFAR funding for global HIV/AIDS relief (later granted waiver but created confusion and service disruption).
• Estimated to have caused approximately 300,000 deaths globally, including over 200,000 children, due to abrupt cuts in aid programs combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, malnutrition, and providing clean water and food aid.

__________________

I find it very hard to believe that:

• this is not based on a concerted strategy,
• it is merely caused by incompetence due to inept individuals in key positions,
• the list will not get longer as Trump procedes,
• by and large Americans accept this without much effective counter-action.

If you, my American friends, don’t do something very soon, it will be too late. This is no longer purely an American issue; health has long become international, and soon we will all suffer from Trump’s systematic demolition of healthcare and research.

PS

Thank you Jessica for this brave effort