A Lancet study warns that more than 14 million additional deaths could occur globally by 2030 due to significant funding cuts to USAID and global health programs , with over 4.5 million of these preventable deaths among children under 5. USAID-funded programs alone prevented over 91 million deaths between 2001 and 2021, delivering vaccines, maternal and child health services, malaria and HIV treatments, and critical emergency interventions.
These cuts are not isolated. The current Trump administration is dismantling the very foundation of public health and scientific infrastructure within the United States and globally, expanding the damage begun in Trump’s first term. Cuts to the CDC, NIH, and NOAA are undermining disease surveillance, pandemic preparedness, vaccine development, and climate-related health early warning systems. NOAA, which tracks climate and weather patterns critical for disease vector monitoring, faces defunding precisely when climate change is driving the spread of mosquito-borne and zoonotic diseases. The CDC’s syndromic surveillance systems, which track outbreaks in real time, are being dismantled, leaving the U.S. blind to emerging health threats.
Defunding the NIH threatens the future of medical research, halting the development of lifesaving treatments for cancer, diabetes, infectious diseases, and neurological disorders. The erosion of these institutions under Trump’s anti-science policies will cost lives domestically and globally, reducing life expectancy and reversing decades of progress in health and medical research.
Equally concerning is the dangerous role of RFK Jr. within the Trump administration, further accelerating this public health crisis:
Vaccine Recommendations Removed: RFK Jr. is pushing to remove all federal vaccine recommendations, undermining childhood immunization and risking the return of polio, measles, and other preventable diseases.
Fluoride Removal from Water: Despite decades of evidence showing fluoride prevents tooth decay safely, RFK Jr. is working to remove fluoride from public water systems, which will increase preventable dental disease, particularly among children in low-income communities.
Science Denial: RFK Jr.’s spread of vaccine misinformation and conspiracy theories has fueled distrust in public health, making Americans more vulnerable to disease outbreaks. His efforts align with Trump’s broader anti-science agenda, dismantling trust in the CDC, FDA, NIH, and the scientific process itself.
All of this is happening while climate change, dismissed by Trump and RFK Jr. as “bullshit,” is exponentially increasing the probability of emerging zoonotic diseases like COVID-19. Dismantling climate and health monitoring during this crisis ensures the next pandemic will arrive with even less preparedness and a weakened ability to respond.
When these cascading harms are added to the millions of preventable deaths and chronic illnesses resulting from Trump’s catastrophic COVID-19 mismanagement, it is clear that Trump will likely be responsible for more deaths than any president in U.S. history. This is not rhetoric; it is the logical, data-driven consequence of systematically defunding science, dismantling public health, and denying reality in the face of clear and present dangers.
The Bottom Line:
Slashing global health funding, dismantling scientific institutions, and promoting anti-science conspiracies are not cost-saving measures—they are decisions that will be measured in millions of preventable deaths. These policies undermine America’s health, security, and moral standing globally, ensuring future crises will be deadlier and harder to control.
Leadership matters. Science matters. We ignore this reality at the cost of our future—and the lives of millions who will suffer the consequences of deliberate, avoidable neglect.