Trump funding cuts and political pressure are eroding U.S. scientific dominance as rival countries recruit departing researchers

The United States’ scientific research system is under growing strain from federal workforce reductions, canceled grants and greater political influence over research priorities under President Donald Trump, as other countries move to recruit scientists leaving American institutions, according to a New York Times examination.

The Times found that federal agencies central to U.S. research have lost thousands of scientists, engineers and technical employees, while billions of dollars in research funding have been canceled, frozen or redirected since Trump returned to office.

The changes stem partly from workforce reductions initiated through the Department of Government Efficiency and from the administration’s effort to reshape which areas of research receive federal support.

The Energy Department, a major center for nuclear, quantum and energy research, has lost more than 1,000 scientists and technical employees, according to the investigation.

The disruption extends to biomedical and basic research. Separate assessments have found thousands of grants canceled at the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation, while staffing reductions have affected laboratories and agencies across the federal government.

The Trump administration says it is eliminating waste and redirecting federal resources toward research that advances U.S. priorities, rejecting claims that its policies are dismantling American science.

But researchers and university leaders warn that the uncertainty is making the United States less attractive to both established scientists and the next generation of researchers.

Other countries are moving to capitalize on the shift.

Canada has launched a C$1.7 billion initiative to attract leading international researchers, including academics from major U.S. universities, while Australia and European countries have expanded recruitment efforts.

China has also attracted prominent researchers from American institutions. Omar Yaghi, who won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, left the University of California, Berkeley, this year to lead an artificial-intelligence research center at Tsinghua University.

The United States remains the world’s largest scientific research power, with an extensive network of universities, laboratories and private investment. But researchers cited by the Times warn that sustained losses of funding, personnel and international talent could gradually erode an advantage built over decades.