Trump’s Brain Drain: Scientists Look to Move Abroad Amid Cuts to Research Funding in U.S.

Cuts by the Trump administration are beginning to “chase” U.S.-based scientists at federal agencies and research institutions out of the country. “We’re draining our scientific talent,” says environmental journalist Robert Hunziker, who explains how China and European countries are offering positions for scientists laid off, fired or pushed out by Trump and DOGE’s mass culling of federal workers and funding. The massive U.S. “brain drain” is a “brain gain” for other countries, adds Hunziker, and comes as the Trump administration also cracks down on university curriculums and targets international students for its mass deportation initiative.