Daily briefing: Trump — one year in
Article Date: 21 January 2026
Author: Flora Graham
Article URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-00230-7
Image: Lead image
Summary
This Nature Briefing reviews the effects of Donald Trump’s first year in office on US science, alongside shorter items on infant microbiomes, plant trickery and technologies to watch in 2026.
The lead feature documents widespread disruption to US research: thousands of grants cancelled or frozen, tens of thousands of agency staff gone and deep proposed budget cuts. Subsequent pieces cover Congress pushing back on funding cuts, the US withdrawing from dozens of global science networks, expert opinions on protecting biomedical research, and a round-up of emerging tech to watch.
Short items include a study showing nursery attendance reshapes infants’ gut microbiomes, a report on yams disguising bulbils as berries to enlist birds for dispersal, and Nature’s picks for technologies likely to matter in 2026.
Key Points
- More than 7,800 research grants were terminated or frozen during the first year of the Trump administration.
- About 25,000 scientists and support staff left agencies that oversee research, with staffing declines across major US scientific bodies.
- The administration proposed roughly 35% cuts to science budgets (about US$32 billion), though Congress is moving to reject many of those reductions, including a deal to boost NIH funding by ~1% instead of large cuts.
- The US plans to leave 66 global agencies and networks, affecting biodiversity, climate and conservation collaborations and signalling a shift in international engagement.
- Opinion pieces outline strategies to protect biomedical science: legal action, state and industry intervention, alternative data-collection approaches and prioritising early-career researchers.
- Research shows that after four months in nursery, infants share 15–20% of gut microbial species with peers, emphasising social transmission in early microbiome development.
- Nature’s tech-to-watch list for 2026 highlights AI-driven meteorology, advanced light microscopy for brain architecture, mRNA therapeutics and next-gen fusion reactors.
Context and relevance
The feature matters because it summarises both immediate and systemic impacts on the US research enterprise: funding instability, workforce losses and weakened international ties will ripple through academia, industry and public-health preparedness.
For researchers, funders and policymakers, the piece provides crucial context on where federal support is eroding and how stakeholders are responding — from congressional pushes to legal and state-level remedies. The shorter items (microbiome transmission, plant dispersal, tech forecasts) connect to broader trends in microbiology, ecology and applied technology that will interest scientists and informed readers alike.
Why should I read this?
Want a fast, clear read on how a year of policy shockwaves has reshaped US science? This briefing nails the essentials — numbers, likely fallout and what people in the field are already doing about it. Plus, there are neat short pieces (babies swapping gut microbes at nursery, sneaky yams and tech picks for 2026) that make it worth your ten minutes.