The chaotic first few months of Donald Trump’s second U.S. presidency have produced much more heat than light, with Trump alternately invoking and rescinding massive tariffs, issuing sweeping executive orders that are quickly thrown into court challenges, and attempting to use a 45-year-old law to gut labor unions that represent federal workers.
But while the ultimate fate of those actions is unknown, there is one area to which experts say Trump’s administration unquestionably has already done real damage: public health. And many of those who’ve spent their adult lives on the front lines, keeping Americans and the world safer from infectious diseases and other threats, believe that damage will be long-lasting.
