Protests in Washington: Finger away! - Scientists defend themselves against Trump!
Protests in Washington: Finger away! - Scientists defend themselves against Trump!
On April 4, 2025, significant protests against the policies of US President Donald Trump took place in several cities in the United States. The protest was under the banner "Hands Off!" Organized, with the aim of demonstrating against Trump and the entrepreneur Elon Musk. The demonstrators accuse both of “taking everything they can” and demanding an end to the controversial measures that threaten many scientists and workers in research.
in Washington, where the largest rally took place, several democratic MPs performed as speakers. These protests are to be seen as one of the first major demonstrations against the Trump government. So far there had been only a few significant rallies, and the recent protests against Musk, which took place at the end of March
protests by scientists and increased concern
Already on March 8, 2025, in cities such as Washington and New York, thousands of scientists demonstrated against the control policy of the Trump administration. Under the motto "Stand Up for Science", the demonstrators expressed their concern about considerable cuts in the research budgets and the impending job cancellations. Employees of the state are increasingly concerned about political interventions and uncertainty in their jobs, especially with regard to the effects of this policy on the protection of ecosystems.
A NASA employee kept a sign with the provocation in one of the larger rallies: "Good luck to come to Mars without science". These statements underline the deep concern about the government's research policy, especially since it became known that the US government of the Columbia University wants to delete funding of around $ 400 million. This decision is justified by the fact that the university of its responsibility to protect Jewish students has not been met.
The policy of cuts and censorship
The protest wave is increased by the implementation of Trump's “Project 2025” plan, which aims to fundamentally redesign the state. The political decisions are characterized by massive cuts in research, censorship in scientific projects and job cuts in important research institutions. This includes job cancellations of up to 65 percent in the environmental protection authority and 50 percent at the National Science Foundation. According to reports, up to five billion US dollars in the budget of the universities could be lost until the end of the fiscal year.
In addition to the financial incisions, the instructions on the removal of critical topics from public websites for alarm in the science community. The censorship concerned not only climate change, but also indications of Covid-19, which massively endangers the credibility of scientific work.
The protest movement "Stand Up for Science", which resulted from frustration about these developments, requires legal regulations to ensure scientific independence, as should be recorded in the so -called Scientific Integrity Act. Critics warn of the progressive political influence on scientific results and the risk that further fundamental scientific knowledge will be pushed into the background or even suppressed.
The global scientific community pursues these developments with concern, since the US government has not only got out of the Paris Agreement, but also greatly reduced support for global health initiatives. This endangers the knowledge and progress that has been developed in recent decades.
These protests and the associated developments indicate a deep split in American society, which is not only about scientific topics, but also about basic democratic values and rights.
The argument about Trump and Musk shows that the coming months will be of crucial importance for the US company, both in terms of science and the political stability of the nation.
In these eventful times, the science and research community calls for rethinking the political control of science and education in order to avoid further reduction in orthodox and scientific values.
The reporting on these protests and their background can be found in various media, such as in Kleinezeitung.at , tagesschau.de and DetailsOrt Washington, USA Quellen