The Trump Administration doesn’t like people talking about climate change. So they’re just erasing all mention of it from federal websites. A recent report from Politico shows that USDA is now forced to remove any reference to climate change and simply pretend like it’s not happening.
A memo has been sent to USDA managers to “Identify and archive or unpublish any landing pages focused on climate change” and “Identify all web content related to climate change and document it in a spreadsheet.” But this is just one problem.
US Government websites are disappearing quickly
This is part of a broader move attempting to shut down any discussion on climate and remove records. However, on Friday, USDA officials seemed to fight back, noting that the content should not be deleted. “USDA needs to adhere to requirements around records retention, so Archive or Unpublish landing pages focused on climate change,” an email sent to agency public affairs directors read.
As of now, several USDA climate pages are still up, particularly the Climate Hubs — helpful pages that connect producers to research and local programs. However, many other sites were down, including the USFS Climate Change Resource Center, the Climate Action Tracker and the National Roadmap for Responding to Climate Change.
This systematic erasure of climate change information undermines public access to critical scientific data and disrupts efforts to address environmental challenges. By removing references to climate change from federal websites, the administration is not only silencing discussion but also impeding research, policy-making, and public awareness. Scientists, farmers, and policymakers rely on these resources to develop mitigation strategies, prepare for climate-related disasters, and understand long-term environmental trends. The deliberate suppression of climate science threatens to weaken national and global responses to climate change. It prioritizes political ideology over strong scientific evidence and jeopardizes the well-being of future generations.
Every administration brings its own changes to federal websites. However, the current administration seems to be simply scrubbing everything that doesn’t align with its agenda.
Scientists ordered to withdraw papers
Health is another battlefield the administration has unleashed. It started with eliminating information on reproductive healthcare. Trump has also ordered the removal of vaccine information from various websites. But this is just the tip of the iceberg to what he’s apparently preparing for the CDC.
The CDC’s website has a new banner saying it is being “modified” to comply with Trump’s executive orders. This kind of lack of transparency doesn’t usually bode well. But what followed was even more concerning.
The CDC was asked to withdraw all papers involving its researchers to allow for a review by the Trump administration. In other words, Trump wants to control what scientists can and can’t publish.
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The withdrawal order, first reported by the Inside Medicine Substack, ordered scientists to remove “forbidden terms”. The terms include gender biologically male, pregnant person, or LGBT.
This blatant censorship of scientific and medical information directly endangers public health and undermines scientific integrity. The CDC’s role is to protect public health through transparent communication and rigorous scientific research, but forcing scientists to withdraw papers and eliminate so-called “forbidden terms” suggests an unprecedented level of political interference.
Censoring science
Suppressing health-related information not only weakens public trust in medical institutions but also increases the risk of preventable diseases, worsens health disparities, and compromises the ability of experts to respond to public health crises effectively.
“We cannot simply erase or ignore certain populations when it comes to preventing, treating or researching infectious diseases such as HIV. I really hope that is not the intention of these orders,” said Carl Schmid, advocate and executive director of the HIV+ Hepatitis Policy Institute.
Other scientists had even more blunt reactions.
“This is a travesty,” Dr. Carlos Del Rio, chief section editor for HIV/AIDS for NEJM Journal Watch Infectious Diseases, said in an email for Reuters. “CDC scientists publish every year important work that informs the field of public health. Stopping publications is never good,” he said. The CDC and other US health agencies were also forced to take down web pages on HIV statistics.
The silencing of science under the Trump administration marks a dangerous path — one that prioritizes political ideology over facts, public health, and environmental responsibility. When federal agencies responsible for research, health, and environmental protection are pressured into erasing information, withdrawing papers, and censoring terminology, it threatens not only the integrity of scientific institutions but also the well-being of millions of people who rely on their findings.
This isn’t just about climate change or healthcare — it’s about the fundamental role of science in society. In the face of such censorship, the scientific community, journalists, and the public must remain vigilant, push for transparency, and hold those in power accountable. History has shown that ignoring science doesn’t make problems disappear; it only makes them harder to solve.
