Of all of the things that Americans believe could never happen here, losing our superiority in scientific development and our ability to attract top talent from all over the world is probably near the top of the list. And also, apparently, at the top of the list for the MAGA movement to destroy.
Since Trump’s return to office, there has been an ever-increasing attack on scientific research. They’ve been gutting funding within our government and demonizing and firing thousands of federally employed scientists and researchers. They’ve cut funding to our university research programs that have for decades attracted the best and the brightest from around the world while also returning dividends of innovation back into our society. They’re not only cutting funding, they’ve also been fostering a climate of fear and intimidation. A French scientist heading to a conference in Houston was denied entry after immigration officers searched his phone and found texts criticizing Trump and Elon Musk. A Russian-born Harvard cancer researcher returning from a vacation in France was stopped by immigration officials and charged for having undeclared frog embryos. Usually a minor infraction, but instead she was held by ICE, first in Vermont and then transferred to Louisiana before eventually being released on bail. She faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Incidents like this have sent a clear message to the scientific community, and given that they’re scientists and all, they’ve been able to put two and two together.
Nature, the world-renowned scientific journal, polled 1,600 of its readers and found that 75% of them were planning on leaving the United States as a result of Trump’s policies. That was back in March, which, if my math is correct, was about 200 years ago. My guess is the sentiment hasn’t gotten any better.
So, less than a year into this disastrous administration, or better labeled as a regime, we are already seeing that the great American brain drain is well underway. Scientists, professors, students, and all the talent that makes up the innovation apparatus that made the U.S. so successful in the last century are already looking for places that offer a safe haven for scientific research. And of course, that means money, which many countries are stepping up to provide, but it also means places that are free from lunatic tirades against diversity, equity and inclusion. Where using terms like climate, or environmental justice, or underserved won’t get your contracts cancelled, as indicated by a leaked (also back in March) USDA Agricultural Research Service memo. Where cancer research doesn’t have to be hindered by bureaucrats scrubbing funding for anything that may focus on the health of black women. Or where your sexual orientation, gender, ethnicity, or religious beliefs won’t be seen as unwelcome and under threat of being targeted for discrimination.
The first Trump administration gave us a glimpse into what that brain drain will look like and how we can expect these kinds of case studies to become our new normal. So, way back in 2020, Trump revoked student visas to a variety of Chinese researchers. There were, at the time, some legitimate intellectual property concerns, but more so, it was part of Trump’s clearly racist anti-Chinese tirades. Kung Flu anyone? The effect of his China-bashing and erratic orders directed at Chinese students and researchers caused many to reconsider America, and not just those who were banned. And that likely led to DeepSeek shaping up to be the greatest global competitor to OpenAI. If you read my stuff, you know that I am adamantly against the AI race, but this is just another case study of how stifling innovation will affect us.
Since 2021, we’ve been trying to curtail Chinese access to technologies that would aid them in AI development, namely the power-hungry Nvidia chips that Silicon Valley is dependent on. Well, many of those researchers who chose to stay in China are the same people who figured out how to develop DeepSeek, an open-source large language model that uses a fraction of the energy that OpenAI needs. See how that works? If you don’t foster an environment for scientific research, well, the people who do it find other places to go, and they will continue doing their work. Many of those researchers would have preferred to come to the US at one point, but not after they were openly attacked. You know, because they’re scientists and they can make sense of things. That’s kind of their job, when you let them do it.
So, expect a lot of that kind of thing. The kind of country that once attracted the likes of Albert Einstein does not, and will not, exist under a Trump regime. And anyway, the damage is already done; even a stark reversal in the next few months will take years to rectify. But we’re not going to have a reversal anytime soon. The big beautiful bill just passed. In it are measures to drastically increase funding for ICE and immigration enforcement, the same entities that are currently scaring the shit out of our international researchers and scientists. It’s filled with measures to dismantle our investments in clean energy that will ripple through our industrial base and send the smartest innovators to the countries that are willing to invest in the technologies of the future. Same with investment in cancer research, climate research, virology, pretty much anything you can think of that brought us into modernity in the first place.
Under Trump and MAGA, that’s all gone. And I don’t mean somewhere down the road, I mean already. The damage done in less than six months could take decades to unravel, if we ever even get that opportunity. I wish I had a great solution, or a way to throw some positivity on this, but in truth, brain drains generally stifle economic growth, batter the middle class, and send countries into decades of malaise. Typically, the only way out is public investment in education and research, and attracting highly skilled talent, you know, the thing we were doing just a few months ago, but suddenly are now doing the exact opposite of. But, at least we know what we need to do, if we ever get a chance to do it again, that is.