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Are Trump's cuts to science the end of the endless frontier?

Since the second world war, US economic prosperity and major technological developments have hinged upon the government’s commitment to funding scientific research. The Trump administration is ending that

By Jeremy Hsu

28 March 2025

US President Donald Trump’s executive orders have led to drastic cuts across the sciences

SHAWN THEW/POOL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

In a letter to Michael Kratsios, director of the US Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Trump administration said on 26 March that the US needs to revitalise its science and technology enterprise and accelerate research and development. But President Donald Trump has spent the early months of his second term dismantling the very research apparatus built for this purpose.

His latest directive invokes the idea of the “endless frontier”, a vision set out at…

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