WATCH: Science Magazine Decries Trump’s Science Cuts and Bad Surgeon’s Deadly Fraud Exposed

In Episode 2 of The Week in Science, Scott Turner, Director of Science Programs at the National Association of Scholars, dissects Science magazine’s critical response to the first hundred days of the Trump presidency.

The magazine describes a “chaotic 100-day push” that they claim has dismantled scientific and public health infrastructure, including the erasure of entire research-funding agencies, significant layoffs at the National Institute of Health (NIH)—2,500 jobs, or 12 percent of its workforce—and cuts to grants, particularly those tied to political priorities like LGBTQ and environmental justice research.

Turner challenges this narrative, arguing that public trust in science has been eroding for decades due to self-inflicted wounds, and that the cuts, such as a proposed 50 percent reduction in the $200 billion federal research budget, merely return spending to 2018 levels. He also highlights specific reductions: the NIH budget drops 40 percent ($18 billion), the National Science Foundation loses 55 percent (mostly DEI grants), National Aeronautics and Space Administration cuts 53 percent (climate modeling), while the Department of Energy and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration face lighter reductions of 14 percent and 24 percent, respectively, targeting green energy and climate research.

Additionally, Turner examines a Netflix documentary, Bad Surgeon, which exposes the fraudulent and deadly practices of Italian surgeon Paolo Macchiarini, who falsely claimed to regenerate tracheas using plastic models and stem cells, leading to patient deaths. The documentary reveals how institutions like the Karolinska Institute enabled Macchiarini by ignoring his fraud and punishing whistleblowers, deepening broader issues of trust and integrity in scientific institutions.

Watch the full video below or on YouTube.