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Tulsi Gabbard hugs President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 12, 2025.
Gabbard and RFK Jr. confirmed by US Senate
On Thursday, the Senate voted to confirmRobert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human Services Secretary. The vote also went along party lines, 52-48, with McConnell also voting with Democrats against Kennedy.
RFK Jr., like Gabbard, has set off alarm bells. Ian Bremmer, founder and president of Eurasia Group, says Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again movement is “set to shake up health policy” in the US. MAHA, says Bremmer, is “a worldview that blends concerns about corporate influence on healthcare with skepticism towards mainstream medicine.” It’s also made up, notes Bremmer, of wellness culture, vaccine hesitancy, alternative medicine, and deep state conspiracy – and it crosses ideological divides. It is, in a word, messy, and will almost certainly do what its proponents promise: upset the status quo on health policy in the US.
Should we worry about bird flu in the US?
How worried should we be about bird flu spreading to humans in the US? Are rising bird flu numbers the beginning of the next pandemic? On GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, New York Times science and global health reporter, Apoorva Mandavalli says that now is the time to start taking bird flu more seriously. The virus, known as H5N1, has been circulating in the US since 2024 in poultry and dairy cattle, but fears are growing about its spread to humans after the first bird flu death was reported in Louisiana last month. One big reason for that is that the flu virus is very good at adapting, picking up characteristics that keep it spreading. With Robert F. Kennedy Jr. set to lead the US health department, Mandavilli worries about our ability to deal with a bird flu epidemic, especially given his opposition to mRNA vaccines and endorsement of raw milk, which can harbor bird flu virus, posing serious risks to public health.
“Surveillance has been just really, really poor. We don’t actually know what this virus is doing, how it’s evolving, how widely it’s spread,” Mandavilli says, “That first death was quite a wakeup call.”
Watch the full interview on GZERO World: Trump's health agenda—from RFK Jr. to leaving WHO
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the award-winning weekly global affairs series, airs nationwide on US public television stations (check local listings).
New digital episodes of GZERO World are released every Monday on YouTube. Don't miss an episode: subscribe to GZERO's YouTube channel and turn on notifications (🔔).
- Trump's health agenda—from RFK Jr. to leaving WHO ›
- Hard Numbers: Trump’s win certified, First bird flu death, Nippon Steel sues Biden, Venezuela jails foreigners, Congo readies mass execution, Dolphins die after oil spill ›
- How Trump is remaking US public health, with NY Times reporter Apoorva Mandavilli ›
- HARD NUMBERS: Bird flu comes for cows, Alberta wildfire season heats up, Canada grants high-flying sanctions exception, Five Eyes take a hard look at 'Dumping' ›
How Trump is remaking US public health, with NY Times reporter Apoorva Mandavilli
Listen: In President Trump’s short time in office, he’s already made sweeping changes to US public health policy—from RFK Jr.’s nomination to lead the health department to withdrawing the US from the World Health Organization. On the GZERO World Podcast, New York Times science and global health reporter Apoorva Mandavilli joins Ian Bremmer for an in-depth look at health policy in the Trump administration, and what it could mean, not just for the US, but for the rest of the world. President Trump has made it clear: he wants to slash government spending and remake institutions like the CDC, NIH, and FDA. But are those plans a much-needed correction to an overly bureaucratic system or prescription for the next pandemic? What do we need to know about bird flu and changes to USAID? Bremmer and Mandavilli discuss RFK Jr.’s influence in Trump’s second term and what the future of health and medical policy in America could look like.
- The Disinformation Election: Will the wildfire of ... - GZERO Media ›
- Ian Bremmer: American democracy at risk thanks to conspiracy theories ›
- What would it mean for the US to leave the World Health Organization? ›
- What can RFK Jr. do for Donald Trump? ›
- Senate hearings: Gabbard and RFK Jr. make it out of committee ›
- Senate grills RFK Jr. on healthcare policy and vaccine statements ›
- Should we worry about bird flu in the US? - GZERO Media ›
Trump's health agenda—from RFK Jr. to leaving WHO
From RFK Jr.’s nomination to lead the health department to an executive order withdrawing the US from the World Health Organization, President Trump has already made sweeping changes to public health policy, and this may be just the beginning. On GZERO World, New York Times Science and Global Health Reporter Apoorva Mandavilli joins Ian Bremmer for an in-depth look at health and medicine in the second Trump administration—and what it could mean, not just for the US, but for the rest of the world. With bird flu numbers rising in the US and a noted vaccine skeptic poised to become the country's most powerful public health official, should we be worried about potential new pandemics or cuts at the CDC and NIH? Will the FDA endorse RFK’s ideas about raw milk and unfluoridated water? RFK gets a lot right about the need to focus on disease prevention and remove toxins fom our food and environment, but many of his ideas are at odds with mainstream medical science, posing a risk to public health. Bremmer and Mandavilli break down the big stories in healthcare right now, and what the future of the US medical establishment could look like.
"We have a huge problem with trust in this country, and that predates RFK Jr.," Mandavilli says, "Now when you have somebody who has made those comments very openly about the CDC not being trustworthy or the FDA not being trustworthy, and that's who's leading the health department, I think we are in real danger of people [not trusting] anything."
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the award-winning weekly global affairs series, airs nationwide on US public television stations (check local listings).
New digital episodes of GZERO World are released every Monday on YouTube. Don't miss an episode: subscribe to GZERO's YouTube channel and turn on notifications (🔔).
- Ian Bremmer: American democracy at risk thanks to conspiracy theories ›
- The Disinformation Election: Will the wildfire of ... - GZERO Media ›
- Trump’s rockiest Cabinet picks get spicy hearings ›
- What would it mean for the US to leave the World Health Organization? ›
- What can RFK Jr. do for Donald Trump? ›
- Senate hearings: Gabbard and RFK Jr. make it out of committee ›
- Senate grills RFK Jr. on healthcare policy and vaccine statements ›
- Should we worry about bird flu in the US? - GZERO Media ›
Why cutting USAID will hurt American foreign policy
Ian's Quick Take: Hi everybody. Ian Bremmer here and a Quick Take for today on USAID, the US Agency for International Development, which is in the process of being shut down. Nearly all Washington staff have been put on leave, they're closing missions abroad, the State Department moving to evacuate all staff around the world. Why should we care? Does this matter? This agency was set up back over 50 years ago, 1961, by then President John F. Kennedy, and it was meant to coordinate the distribution of foreign aid for the United States all over the world and differentiate that from military support that was provided by the United States.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that the US isn't providing charity, that's not what foreign aid is, that it should be providing support for US national interests. And I agree that it should be providing support for US national interest, but it is important to recognize that actually when USAID was set up, it was set up in part as charity, that President Kennedy's position was that the United States had a moral obligation to support poorer people, and poorer countries around the world. They are fellow human beings, after all, and the United States has historically benefited massively from developing resources all around the world, and frequently, the people that lived in those countries didn't get very much as a consequence, and the US has benefited massively, as have other wealthy countries, from industrialization, and putting carbon into the atmosphere that now poor countries can't do because of climate change, and we're saying, "We need to transition," but the US, of course, has gotten the benefits of that historically.
You know, my view is, I'm okay with charity. I actually think that helping save lives with food and medicine for millions of people and especially babies and children. I mean, even if it did nothing for the United States directly, I would be okay with spending some of the money of American taxpayers on that, especially as opposed to say a war in Afghanistan or the latest sort of bomber program that is expensive and more than the Americans need. So, I push back on the US should never do charity argument. But leaving that aside, you don't need that argument to focus on the importance of USAID.
And I want to, before I get into the national interest side, I do want to say I am empathetic with why it is unpopular. Because at a moment when so many average Americans feel like the US government has not taken care of them, and this is why you see so much backlash against all of the illegal immigrants that have not been addressed by administrations for many years, and why there's so much backlash against the US establishment, whether it's Democrat or Republican, in saying, "What about the average working American? What about our healthcare? What about our public school system? What about things that you should care a lot more about than sending aid to brown people around the world?" Which is essentially what USAID is mostly doing. I get that. And in that regard, it's an easy target for Trump. It's a particularly easy target for Elon Musk. I would ask first, "Why tax cuts for and regulations written by billionaires in the United States before poor people and Americans?" That would be my higher priority if I was really, really angry and antagonized by how badly money is being spent in the US. But that's a different story.
The point is you don't need to make the argument of charity. It is very clear that US foreign aid supports America's economic and national security interests. It is growing markets for consumers, for American businesses and products all over the world. The US has the biggest businesses. It has the biggest market. It benefits the most from other countries around the world having more capacity to sustainably consume and engage with those businesses. America benefits in having more health security by containing disease and pandemics because those diseases and pandemics don't suddenly stop at the American border. The US benefits from aid that reduces insurgencies creating instability that leads to more illegal migration all over the world, many of whom ultimately end up in the United States. It creates more economic opportunity and safety and security in origin countries. And that is a carrot that matters. It's not just about sticks. It's a carrot for economic statecraft that gives the Americans more influence as opposed to say the Russians, or more importantly the Chinese.
Because getting rid of USAID and cutting back on all these programs creates a vacuum. And that is an opportunity for adversaries. I've already seen ministers from large African countries who have their American programs getting cut off, reaching out immediately to their counterparts, ministers in China saying, "Are you willing to send in the programs to replace the Americans that are leaving?" And China doesn't have the economic wherewithal, the Americans do, but they certainly will seize opportunities that are economically useful to them, long-term, because they have a much longer-term perspective on these things than a US administration that's gone in four years. So I worry about that.
I think that USAID has been America's principle interlocutor with civil society in developing countries. And to the extent that we care about those countries having systems that are more aligned with the values and standards that the United States has historically promoted, then you don't want to undermine that and allow the Chinese to come in, which has very little interest in civil society, indifferent to civil society. It's a source of intelligence for the United States. And we've seen that even if it's sometimes uncomfortable for the local governments who aren't necessarily in favor of that. It is true that all USAID projects are probably not going to ultimately be killed, that the State Department is going to take it over and Marco Rubio has said that, "There's a lot of corruption in USAID, and a lot of this money is misspent, and is spent badly, and breaks executive orders," and I am sure that is true, and I am sure that that corruption needs to be addressed. It wouldn't surprise me. The US is an incredibly bloated government system. But shooting first and asking questions later tends to kill innocencts. And that is of course the approach here. And the reality is, that Elon and Trump and their ability to act and be destructive is much greater than the damage control that the secretary of state can do at this moment. And the State Department just does not have the people or the infrastructure to execute on a lot of these programs once USAID is shut down.
And the message that this is really sending to allies is that the United States is an unreliable partner. You cannot count on it. That what they say to you in one administration is not going to be consistent in a second administration, in a way that is not true with other countries, most other countries, around the world. And so I continue to believe, as I did before Trump was inaugurated, that the US is going to see a lot of wins. A lot of countries are going to bend to his will because he's more powerful and he's willing to use that power directly. But that does not mean that the United States will long-term succeed in a law of the jungle approach, an approach which is all stick and no carrot, even when the stick is very, very big, but you can't wield it effectively for a long period of time. And other countries are learning that carrots are kind of smart. I mean, the Chinese originally perfected the all stick and no carrot approach and then saw that the United States was more effective in a lot of countries because they also had economic statecraft. They also had these commercial levers, and so the Chinese started saying, "Oh, we need to figure out how to deliver aid to a lot of these countries, doesn't have to be transparent, can work right with the governments, but ultimately that's going to give us more influence in these countries." And that is something that President Trump and his administration in the early weeks at least seemed to be jettisoning.
So I think this is Pennywise pound foolish. I think it is short-term beneficial to Trump and will look like a win for him and his base and long-term will undermine US power around the world and will of course make the world a less stable place. So on balance, I think this is a problem. It's not something that I think is going to go well. I would love to be proven wrong. I'll be watching it carefully and I think it's a good thing to be debating.
So that's it for me, and I'll talk to you all real soon.
Lisa Pauli, 47, who says she wants to apply for medical assistance in dying (MAiD) when she is eligible because of her severe anorexia, looks on, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada June 9, 2023.
Canada: A great place to die?
Canada’s medical assistance in dying (MAiD) regime is garnering criticism, as its rapid growth threatens to make the country the world capital of assisted suicide - if it’s not already. Health Canada has just released the statistics for 2023 that show Canada sat just behind the Netherlands in terms of the number of assisted deaths. In both countries, one in 20 deaths are due to medical assistance - a total of 15,343 Canadians in the 2023 calendar year. However, it took the Netherlands 22 years to reach that proportion; it has taken Canada just seven.
The original intent of the legislation was to offer a painless death with dignity to those with a terminal disease. Since then, court challenges have opened medical assistance in dying to people who do not have a “grievous and irremediable” condition. The most worrying statistic for opponents of expanding the regime was the revelation that 622 people with non-terminal illnesses received assisted dying. Nearly half of them cited “isolation or loneliness” as one of the causes of their suffering. Rejections of MAiD remain much higher for non-terminal applicants, but yet more liberalization of the regime is coming, unless a future government steps in to block it.
As of March 2027, people with mental illness as their underlying condition will be eligible for MAiD, a development that has many experts worried. The change was due to come in last March but was punted down the road by parliamentarians spooked by expert testimony that indicated the difficulties of predicting mental illness outcomes. One witness told members of Parliament that the long-term prognosis of a person with mental illness is wrong one half of the time.
The voices of concern will grow louder if the 2024 numbers confirm that Canada is now medically assisting the deaths of more of its own citizens than any other country on earth.
Luigi Mangione, 26, a suspect in the New York City killing of UnitedHealth executive Brian Thompson, arrives for an extradition hearing at Blair County Court House in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, U.S. December 10, 2024.
Accused killer hailed a folk hero
Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old alleged assassin of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, was captured while eating hashbrowns in a Pennsylvania McDonald’s on Monday after a customer recognized him, ending a six-day manhunt.
Mangione, the scion of a prosperous Maryland family who had an Ivy League education, appeared motivated to murder Thompson by frustration with the American medical system. Posts on social media show that he suffered from chronic back pain, and he had withdrawn from friends and family over the past year.
Mangione faces five felony counts in what one expert described as a “super strong” case against him.
Despite the cold-blooded nature of the murder — Thompson is survived by a widow and two children — Mangione has been hailed a folk hero by many on social media, reflecting and crystalizing widespread anger with health insurers who profit while denying care to the ill.
It remains to be seen whether this moment of anger will lead to political calls for reforms to protect patients, but it has led to increased security for CEOs.
A doctor checks the progress of a patient with tuberculosis at the Beijing Chest Hospital March 31, 2009. Health officials gathered in Beijing on Wednesday warned against deadly drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis, which are spreading fastest in developing countries that lack the infrastructure to tackle the disease.
Please cough for the AI
What if an artificial intelligence stored on your phone could listen and hear how sick you are? Google is training a bioacoustic AI model called Health Acoustic Representations with 300 million snippets of audio collected from around the world — of people sneezing, coughing, and breathing. The goal? To spot tuberculosis early and treat it.
A whopping 1.3 million people died of tuberculosis in 2022 alone, according to the World Health Organization, and 10.6 million fell ill with the disease. “TB is a treatable disease, but every year millions of cases go undiagnosed — often because people don’t have convenient access to healthcare services,” Google’s Shravya Shettywrote in a blog post. “Improving diagnosis is critical to eradicating TB, and AI can play an important role in improving detection and helping make care more accessible and affordable for people around the world.”
Google is focused first on preventing tuberculosis in India and is partnering with an Indian company called Salcit Technologies, whose own AI app Swaasa is being used by healthcare providers on the subcontinent. Swaasa will integrate Google’s model to improve its own detection of the disease.