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  • NEWS FEATURE

What Trump 2.0 means for science: the likely winners and losers

The incoming US president is expected to gut support for research on the environment and infectious diseases, but could buoy work in artificial intelligence, quantum research and space exploration.
By
  1. Nicola Jones
  2. Alexandra Witze
  3. Jeff Tollefson
  4. Max Kozlov
A photo-collage showing Donald Trump and related science themes.

Illustration: Jasiek Krzysztofiak. Images: Musk: Frederic Legrand — COMEO/Shutterstock; Drug vial: Md Rafayat Haque Khan/Eyepix Group/Future Publishing via Getty; Rocket: Charles Boyer/Alamy; Trump: Rebecca Noble/Getty; Oil wells: John Ciccarelli, BLM California; Chip: luza studios/Getty

As Donald Trump prepares for his second term as president of the United States, two starkly different outlooks are emerging among scientists and engineers. Some technology companies, space enthusiasts, artificial intelligence (AI) developers and others expect favourable policies for their fields in the coming years, and are hugely excited about the possibilities for exploration and innovation. Yet, for countless other scientists and academics — including those who work on climate, Earth sciences and biomedicine — there is concern that important research will be cut, deprioritized or vilified.

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Nature 637, 532-535 (2025)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-00052-z

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