Public Health Scrambles To Figure Out Trump's Health Orders
What A Day
What A Day
4.6 • 12.6K Ratings
🗓️ 28 January 2025
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Trump administration late Sunday ordered federal health officials to stop working with the World Health Organization, effective immediately. It followed President Donald Trump’s executive order last week to pull the U.S. out of the WHO entirely. The administration has also ordered health agencies to pause almost all external communications – from updating websites to issuing scientific reports — amid increasing fears over bird flu. Dr. Abdul el-Sayed, health officer for Wayne County, Mich., and host of the podcast “America Dissected,’ explains how Trump’s executive orders are rippling through the public health workforce.
Later in the show, Bloomberg senior story editor Stacey Vanek Smith explains what’s happening with Chinese A.I. app DeepSeek.
And in headlines: Trump won’t stop announcing terrible new executive orders, the Department of Justice fires more than a dozen prosecutors who worked on criminal investigations into Trump, and Florida Republicans defy Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Show Notes:
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's Tuesday, January 28th. |
| 0:04.9 | I'm Jane Koston, and this is What Today, the show that will keep calling the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of Mexico. |
| 0:11.0 | Sorry, Google. |
| 0:11.9 | This show is staying strong on critical issues, like what golfs are called. |
| 0:31.7 | Thank you. On today's show, Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis doesn't take rejection from his own party very well. |
| 0:38.5 | And the Tuskegee Airmen and World War II Women's Air Force Service pilots will remain in the Air Force's basic military training. |
| 0:41.4 | But let's start with the Trump administration's war in public health. |
| 0:47.0 | At the same time as H5N1, Bird Flu, is running rampant on farms and in flocks across the country. |
| 0:54.2 | Late Sunday, the Trump administration ordered federal health workers to stop working with the World Health Organization effective immediately. |
| 0:59.3 | It followed President Trump's executive order last week to pull the U.S. out of the WHO entirely, |
| 1:01.4 | though many believed it would happen gradually. |
| 1:02.5 | And that's not all. |
| 1:07.6 | The Trump administration directed federal health agencies to stop almost all external communications, |
| 1:12.4 | from updating websites to issuing scientific reports. According to the administration, this is supposed to be a temporary measure ending on February 1st. But the chaos is real, |
| 1:18.1 | with conferences canceled and studies postponed and research that could save lives left up in the air. |
| 1:23.6 | Oh, and we're awaiting Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s confirmation hearings for a potential rule as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services later this week. All in all, not great. So for more on Trump's public health orders and how they're resonating among the workforce, I talked to Dr. Abdul al-Sayed. He's an epidemiologist and health officer for Wayne County, Michigan. He's also the host of the podcast, America Desected. |
| 1:46.2 | Abdul, welcome back to Waddae. |
| 1:48.8 | Thank you so much for having me. |
| 1:50.2 | And as is a running gag now on this show, I'm only brought back when like really terrible shit is happening in the world. |
| 1:56.5 | So like I've said, at some point, I am welcoming the opportunity to talk about my beautiful |
| 2:02.1 | skincare routine if you would like that. |
| 2:03.9 | Look, I would love nothing more than to talk about retinoles and moisturizer. |
... |
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