Trump has always had plenty of tricks up his sleeve. But this came straight out of left field.
Now President Trump flipped the script in a way that left Democrats dumbfounded.
Halting Risky Overseas Virus Research
President Donald Trump took decisive action on Monday, signing an executive order to end federal funding for gain-of-function research in high-risk nations like China, where Covid-19 is widely believed to have emerged.
The directive zeroes in on “countries of concern,” such as Iran, and others with lax oversight of biological experiments, according to a White House fact sheet. By targeting research that modifies viruses to become more infectious or deadly, the order aims to prevent another catastrophic pandemic.
“It can leak out, like from Wuhan. . . . I think I said that right from Day One,” Trump declared in the Oval Office, reaffirming his long-held stance. “I’ve never changed that opinion.”
Targeting Wuhan’s Legacy and Lab Leaks
The executive order specifically cites the bat coronavirus research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, funded through EcoHealth Alliance, as a driving force behind this policy shift. The White House emphasizes the need to shield Americans from lab leaks, like the one researchers suspect sparked the 1977 Russian flu.
Trump was joined by key allies, including NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, coauthor of the 2020 Great Barrington Declaration opposing lockdowns, and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vocal critic of Covid-19 vaccines and restrictions.
“There’s no laboratory that’s immune from leaks — and this is going to prevent those kinds of inadvertent leaks from happening in the future and endangering humanity,” Kennedy stated, noting the $25 trillion global cost and 20 million lives lost to Covid-19.
Strengthening Oversight and Accountability
The order introduces robust enforcement and reporting mechanisms to tighten biosafety and biosecurity standards, aiming to “discourage subjective interpretation of policies that researchers have used in the past,” per the White House.
This move follows assessments by the FBI, Department of Energy, and CIA, which concluded the Covid-19 pandemic likely stemmed from a Wuhan lab leak, with the CIA endorsing this theory shortly after Trump’s January inauguration.
In contrast, former NIAID Director Anthony Fauci and NIH Director Francis Collins pushed a zoonotic origin in 2020, a stance later undermined as they admitted the lab leak theory’s plausibility during congressional probes led by Representative James Comer (R., Ky.).
Congressional Backing and Public Protection
Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, hailed Trump’s action, which bans taxpayer-funded gain-of-function research across the government. “Every American should be outraged that their hard-earned tax dollars were used by mad scientists to engineer more deadly and transmissible coronaviruses,” Comer said, praising the administration’s focus on public health and safety.
The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, under Comer’s leadership, conducted a two-year investigation, securing testimony from Fauci and Collins that debunked earlier dismissals of the lab leak hypothesis.
Trump, visibly moved after Kennedy’s remarks, said he was “very honored” to sign the order, framing it as a critical step to prevent future pandemics and protect Americans from reckless science abroad.
