Trump’s Aid Cuts Helped Fuel a Deadly Ebola Outbreak

 


This week, the World Health Organization declared a global health emergency in response to a dangerous outbreak of the Ebola virus in parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. Hundreds of suspected cases have already been identified, with at least 139 reported deaths. But health officials warn the true scale of the outbreak may be much larger, citing “significant uncertainties” about both the number of infections and the geographic spread of the virus. Worse yet, there is no vaccine for the Ebola strain now spreading. 

Ordinarily, public health organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) work closely together to identify and contain outbreaks like this much earlier. But experts are warning that sweeping cuts by the Trump Administration have hampered the ability of the authorities to detect and contain deadly outbreaks – including this one – before they spiral out of control. As we are now seeing, the consequences of those cuts are deadly, and possibly catastrophic. 

The Facts: 

Trump and Musk Made Massive Cuts that Put U.S. Lives at Risk: 

  • Over the past year and a half, Donald Trump – with the support of Elon Musk – has dramatically scaled back the programs responsible for identifying and preventing disease outbreaks before they become international crises.

    • During his first term, Trump closed the global pandemic preparedness office set up after the 2014 Ebola crisis in West Africa – weakening prevention efforts around the globe. In 2024, he pledged to do so again, further undermining global health efforts designed to keep Americans safe. 

    • Last year, Musk acknowledged that DOGE had “accidentally” canceled U.S. support for Ebola prevention – before attempting to reverse course. But the vast majority of funding intended to prevent Ebola outbreaks was still slashed by DOGE. 

    • Since taking office, Trump has moved to cut roughly 80 percent of all overseas aid, including funding for programs responsible for infectious disease surveillance and emergency outbreak response. 

    • The administration cut funding for the CDC, the leading public health agency in the country – which has also left the U.S. ill-prepared to address the hantavirus outbreak that reportedly originated on a cruise ship. 

    • At the same time, Donald Trump also withdrew the United States from the WHO, dramatically scaling back support for the global health agency charged with identifying and preventing global pandemics. 

  • Meanwhile, a number of key positions in the U.S. government created to help detect and respond to global health emergencies remain vacant under Trump’s watch. 

    • The coordinator for global health security, a position created by Congress in 2023 to oversee preparedness to biological threats, is unfilled. 

    • The White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy, established by Congress in 2022, is also unstaffed.

Trump’s Cuts Have Weakened the Global Response:

  • Other recent Ebola outbreaks have been contained quickly because public health officials were able to rapidly identify infections, trace contacts, isolate patients, and deploy vaccines. But those systems depend on international funding, support, and coordination – including from the United States.

  • Public health experts believe that the response has been hindered by America’s absence – and that the delayed detection of this outbreak is a direct result of the weakened surveillance caused by U.S. funding cuts.

  • The consequences are already clear and devastating: at least 139 people are dead and hundreds more have been infected, including an American doctor.

  • Without adequate funding and support, outbreaks like this can spread further, faster, and become more difficult to contain. Trump’s cuts weakened the systems designed to stop deadly diseases before they spiral into global emergencies – making outbreaks more dangerous abroad and increasing the risk to Americans here at home.

Talking Points: 

  • Once again, Donald Trump has shown that when it comes to protecting public health and safety, he is dangerously unprepared and asleep at the wheel.

  • Donald Trump and Elon Musk took a hatchet to America’s most effective global health programs, leaving the United States and the world less prepared to respond to dangerous outbreaks like Ebola or hantavirus. Now, we are facing the consequences of that recklessness with this new Ebola outbreak.

  • This Ebola outbreak is exactly why America led the effort to build global disease warning systems in the first place: to stop deadly outbreaks overseas before they reach our shores. Unfortunately, Donald Trump dismantled these protections and now American lives are at risk.

  • This work is not charity. It is self-defense. Slashing global health programs, firing disease experts, and cutting ties with international organizations has the obvious and predictable consequence of leaving Americans vulnerable. 

  • Even now, with at least one American life already on the line, the President is not treating this threat with the seriousness it demands. Instead, he remains consumed by his reckless and costly war in Iran, his corrupt new slush fund, and his costly ballroom.

  • This is yet another dereliction of duty by a short-sighted and chaotic administration.

Published: May 2026