Trump Orders Crackdown on Virus Research He Links to Covid Pandemic

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing new restrictions on biological research, specifically targeting "gain-of-function" experiments that his administration claims were responsible for the Covid-19 pandemic through a lab leak in China.

Under the order, U.S. funding will be cut for gain-of-function studies—research aimed at increasing the infectiousness or severity of pathogens—in certain countries, with China explicitly named as a "country of concern." Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defended the move, saying on X that “no lab is immune to leaks,” and the policy aims to prevent future accidents that could threaten global safety. Jay Bhattacharya of the National Institutes of Health echoed the warning, arguing such experiments pose risks both domestically and internationally.

Trump has long supported the theory that the coronavirus originated from a lab incident at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, rather than spreading naturally from animals at a local market. The official government website, Covid.gov, now reflects this position by highlighting evidence favoring the lab-leak hypothesis.

Multiple U.S. agencies—including the FBI, Department of Energy, and most recently, the CIA—have shifted toward endorsing the lab-leak theory, although others still back natural spillover as the likely source. During Trump’s first term, his administration ended a grant supporting bat coronavirus research at the Wuhan lab via the U.S.-based EcoHealth Alliance—a decision partially reversed by President Biden.

The issue remains contentious. Former top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci insists the Wuhan research didn’t meet the federal definition of gain-of-function, though some experts and officials disagree.

In addition to halting foreign funding, the order calls for stricter oversight of domestic gain-of-function research, even if privately funded. However, the order acknowledges that new legislation may be needed to enforce these controls.

This directive forms part of Trump’s broader agenda to overhaul U.S. science and health policy, which also includes deep budget cuts and mass firings of government scientists.