“Why would anyone be morally bound or wish to be morally bound to a civil society that does not share the goal that it’s citizens deserve a fair distribution of wealth, income and power? If the civil society is not dedicated to that end what else could it possibly be dedicated to? What is freedom, to those without wealth, income or power?”
Trenz Pruca
I. When Biden Finally Did the Obvious
On April 16, 2024, the Biden–Harris Administration did something no other American government had ever done: it released a comprehensive, science-based U.S. Global Health Security Strategy (GHSS)—the first national security plan treating epidemics as serious threats on par with military and nuclear dangers.
This was not liberal handwringing. It was strategic realism.
COVID-19 had already taught us that a virus can kill more Americans than most wars, crater the economy, and destabilize global systems. Biden’s GHSS was the long-overdue acknowledgment of that reality.
Naturally, this made it an irresistible target for the incoming Trump administration, whose instincts run less toward “national preparedness” and more toward “erase everything Biden touched.”
II. What the GHSS Actually Did (Before Trump Took Out the Scissors)
Biden’s GHSS rests on three pillars, each basic, rational, and indispensable.
1. Strengthen Outbreak Detection in 50 Countries
The U.S. expanded its health-security partnerships from 19 to 50 nations, concentrating on regions where epidemics typically emerge.
This meant helping nations:
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Build lab capacity
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Train rapid-response teams
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Detect pathogens early
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Improve border health screening
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Meet WHO’s International Health Regulations
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Address gender and social inequities that worsen disease impacts
This wasn’t “foreign aid.”
It was preventive national defense—the biological equivalent of missile radar.
Source:
White House GHSS Announcement
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/04/16/the-u-s-global-health-security-strategy/
2. Mobilize Global Financing So Outbreaks Don’t Become Pandemics
COVID revealed a brutal truth: countries cannot fight pandemics if they lack cash on day one.
Biden helped fix this:
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Created the Pandemic Fund (2022)
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Modernized World Bank emergency financing
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Strengthened WHO reforms
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Led the G7 Pact for Pandemic Readiness
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Expanded medical countermeasure access
This was the world’s first coherent financial architecture for pandemic prevention.
Source:
Pandemic Fund (World Bank)
https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/statement/2022/09/08/launch-of-the-pandemic-fund
3. Integrate the Entire U.S. Government into One Anti-Pandemic System
GHSS linked historically isolated programs:
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CDC + DOD + State Department + USAID
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Human, animal, and environmental surveillance
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U.S. disaster response systems
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Global research and clinical trials
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PEPFAR, malaria, TB, WASH programs
For the first time, U.S. pandemic preparedness had a unifying brain and a national plan.
It was the closest thing America has ever had to a biological NORAD.
III. Why GHSS Was a Historic Breakthrough
GHSS recognized a truth the 21st century has been screaming at us:
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Viruses travel faster than armies.
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Globalization spreads diseases in hours.
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Climate change accelerates new pathogens.
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Prevention costs nickels; pandemics cost trillions.
In short, Biden treated pandemics as national-security threats.
This was not ideological innovation.
It was belated common sense.
IV. And Then Came Trump — The Governmental Equivalent of an “Undo” Button
The new administration did not roll up its sleeves and build on GHSS.
It quietly set about dismantling it—piece by piece, budget line by budget line—often without announcing anything publicly.
This is how you kill a national strategy without fingerprints.
A. Trump Administration 1.0 (2017–2021): The Original Fire
Before we look at 2025, remember Trump’s record the first time around.
1. Eliminated the NSC Pandemic Office (2018)
This was the team designed to prevent another COVID.
It was shut down.
Source: Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/05/10/trump-officials-disband-pandemic-response-unit/
2. Cut CDC Global Detection Programs by 80%
This blinded the U.S. to emerging outbreaks in 39 countries.
Source: Wall Street Journal
https://www.wsj.com/articles/cdc-to-cut-global-health-programs-by-80-percent-1517235681
3. Withdrew from WHO in the Middle of a Pandemic
Equivalent to firing firefighters while your house is burning.
Source: BBC
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53309739
4. Tried to Eliminate USAID Global Health Funding
Every budget attempted deep cuts or eliminations.
Source: Foreign Policy
https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/03/16/trump-budget-would-slash-global-health-funding/
B. Trump Administration 2.0 (2025): The Return of the Scissors
Trump has no need to announce the destruction of GHSS.
He only needs to stop funding it.
1. GHSS Pillars Go Unfunded
Republican allies have blocked funding for:
A national strategy without money is a pamphlet.
2. Sabotaging the Pandemic Accord
Trump calls it a “WHO power grab,” pressuring negotiators and stalling global diplomacy.
3. Targeting WHO Again
Early moves include:
4. Scaling Back CDC and USAID Field Offices
Reports describe freezes, travel restrictions, and “reviews” designed to kill programs by delay.
5. Redefining “health security” as border panic
Viruses are not migrants, but you wouldn’t know it from the rhetoric.
V. Strategic Consequences: America Disarms While Viruses Evolve
The effect of this policy is simple:
The United States is choosing not to see the next pandemic coming.
Dismantling GHSS is equivalent to:
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Turning off missile detection
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Closing intelligence stations
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Grounding the Air Force
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Burning the emergency playbook
But the enemy is not a country.
It is biology.
And biology does not care who is president.
VI. The Larger Pattern: Trump Weakens U.S. Influence Everywhere
As you argued previously in
“Undermining America From Within”
https://trenzpruca.wordpress.com/2025/05/26/commentary-underminig-america-from-within/
Trump’s pattern is unmistakable:
GHSS was one of Biden’s most powerful tools for projecting global American leadership.
Destroying it fits perfectly with Trump’s broader demolition project.
VII. Conclusion: Preparedness or Amnesia
We now face a choice.
Biden’s path
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Prevention
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Early detection
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Global partnerships
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Scientific coordination
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Real national security
Trump’s path
The last time America assumed pandemics wouldn’t reach us, 1.1 million citizens died.
GHSS was the first attempt to fix that.
Eliminating it is not just negligence.
It is a strategic gift to the next virus.
And the next virus will not care that the scissors made someone feel powerful.
References and Sources
1. U.S. Global Health Security Strategy (White House, 2024)
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/04/16/the-u-s-global-health-security-strategy/
See also: Biden-Harris Administration Releases Strategy to Strengthen Global Health Security: trenzpruca.wordpress.com/...
