Breaking News: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sent an “urgent request” to its workforce to recruit personnel to help screen passengers coming from Central Africa for any potential signs of Ebola illness, according to an internal email to staff obtained by ABC News on May 26, 2026.
In The Trump Files, I wrote how Donald Trump’s handling of Covid-19 transformed a public health crisis into a national catastrophe that contributed to more than 400,000 American deaths.
I argued that Trump’s rejection of science, attacks on public health agencies, and spread of misinformation weakened the nation’s ability to respond effectively to the pandemic. Trump’s leadership was a colossal failure.
I also trace how cuts to global health programs and international disease surveillance undermined preparedness for future outbreaks such as Ebola in the Congo.
The Trump Files warn that dismantling scientific institutions and global cooperation places both America and the world at greater risk from emerging epidemics. I participated and directed a Global cooperative project among counties, their schools, teachers, students, and research organizations. This “soft diplomacy” has had a dagger plunged into its heart by the Trump administration.
When Joe Biden and Kama Harris beat Trump in 2020 vote count, we thought we were on the road to making science and medicine an integral function of the government.
Then we brought back the convicted criminal, and sexual deviant charged with sexual assault and digital rape in two juried trials. His company (PS-not the U.S. government), the Trump Foundation, filed false tax documents to cheat on his tax returns enabling better loans and lower taxes. He was fined a half a billion dollars. And there were other trials and convictions.
And we brought him back to the White House. What were we thinking. We weren’t.
Dismantling Science and Public Health by Musk & Trump
The Trump administration’s decision to dismantle much of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and sharply reduce foreign health assistance has become a central issue in evaluating the current Ebola crisis in the Congo. Public health experts argue that the cuts weakened the international disease surveillance network that had been built after the catastrophic West African Ebola epidemicA of 2014–2016.
Between 2001 and 2024, USAID operated on an average budget of approximately $23 billion per year.
Trump’s Iranian war, which many believe was illegal, has cost American consumers more than $40 billion to fill their tanks
Popular Information estimated that the first 60 days alone cost $71.8 billion, accounting for $41.2 billion, for in munitions. That’s a per day cost of $188 million dollars. And keep in mind that these munitions need to replaced needing billions of dollars.
USAID
USAID costs were $23 billion for the entire year. Lives were saved, no missiles, no soldiers, ships or jets were needed.
The reductions affected laboratory systems, field epidemiology programs, emergency response teams, vaccination campaigns, and training programs across Central Africa. Many of those systems were designed specifically to detect outbreaks early before they spread across borders.
The cuts also disrupted long-standing partnerships between American agencies, African ministries of health, and nongovernmental organizations operating in fragile regions such as eastern Congo. USAID had funded mobile clinics, contact-tracing teams, sanitation projects, and communication programs aimed at building trust between communities and health workers.
When funding disappeared, many local health workers lost jobs, laboratories closed, and disease-monitoring systems deteriorated. In conflict zones where healthcare infrastructure was already weak, the collapse of outside support created dangerous gaps in preparedness.
I believe that these decisions directly affected the speed and effectiveness of the current Ebola response. Several former CDC and USAID officials have warned that the world is now paying the price for dismantling preventive systems that once acted as an early-warning shield against pandemics.
I have argued that disease prevention abroad is also national security protection at home. Ebola outbreaks contained quickly in Africa are far less likely to threaten Europe or the United States. Once surveillance systems weaken, however, diseases can spread undetected for weeks or months before international agencies are able to react.
What Supporters Think But Lack Knowledge of.
Supporters of the funding cuts argued that foreign aid spending had become bloated and inefficient and that resources should be redirected toward domestic priorities. This was not true. If it was true, the problem should have been investigated. Musk and his henchmen did no investigative work on USAID. The have killed thousands of people by canceling our aid to others in need. What fucking kind of country have we become.
They also maintained that international organizations such as the World Health Organization (which we don’t belong to anymore), and African governments should assume greater responsibility for regional health systems.
However, infectious disease experts largely reject the idea that epidemic control can be isolated within national borders. Modern air travel, migration, and global trade make local outbreaks international concerns almost immediately.
Don’t they remember COVID
The Congo outbreak is not simply a regional African crisis; it is also a test of whether wealthy nations remain committed to international disease prevention. The WHO and CDC can respond rapidly only if long-term infrastructure already exists on the ground. USAID historically provided much of that infrastructure through funding, logistics, training, and partnerships.
For perspective:
- The 2014–2016 West Africa Ebola epidemic caused more than 28,000 cases and 11,000 deaths.
- Congo’s 2018–2020 Kivu outbreak caused approximately 3,470 cases and 2,287 deaths, becoming the second-largest Ebola epidemic in history.
Why Experts Are Concerned
Public health experts say several factors make this outbreak unusually dangerous:
- ongoing armed conflict in eastern Congo,
- weak healthcare infrastructure,
- population displacement,
- limited laboratory capacity,
- and the absence of an approved vaccine for this strain.
The current Ebola emergency exposes the consequences of weakening international public health systems. The outbreak illustrates how cuts to preventive programs may save money in the short term but increase risks later when crises emerge. In that sense, Ebola has become both a medical emergency and a political lesson about the importance of sustained investment in global health cooperation.
The U.S. through the CDC must step up and teach Americans what the dangers are with the outbreak of Ebola. Americans need to be informed with the truth about this disease. Ebola can spread human to human. People need to be reminded of Non-pharmaceutical interventions such as hand washing, respiratory etiquette, face masks, and environmental measures such as cleaning surfaces, increasing ventilation, and social distancing. These measures can be effective if used, especially without a vaccine.
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