President Trump’s reckless dismantling of government agencies and safeguards exposes America to a wave of preventable disasters.
Not every disaster movie ends badly. We blew up the asteroid in “Armageddon” before it hit the deadly diseases threatened in “Outbreak,” “Contagion,” and “The Andromeda Strain” were contained and, in “Independence Day,” the world’s militaries beat back the alien invasion.
A common thread ran through these successes: Scientific expertise, well-funded federal agencies, and synchronized emergency responses—exactly the safeguards President Donald Trump is recklessly attempting to dismantle. Some examples of this recklessness were on quick display: firing the people who oversee our nuclear arsenal, protect us from bird flu, and directly support air traffic controllers and critical safety technologies. Some of the other mistakes will only be exposed or felt when a critical function of government fails to protect us from a terrorist attack or bank collapse.
Trump and his partner Elon Musk are indiscriminately bringing a wrecking ball to the government, following the Silicon Valley ethos of “move fast and break things.” But even Musk acknowledges his strategy means “some of the things that I say will be incorrect and should be corrected … Nobody’s going to bat a thousand.”
Most Americans agree that government can work better and can be more efficient. But Trump and Musk’s moves are doing the opposite—and will, in time, make us far less safe. Movies usually feature just one catastrophe apiece, but Trump’s actions are hurtling America toward all of these simultaneously. When these disasters next strike, it likely won’t be in a theater, and we’ll know whose actions to blame:
Planes crash when there are fewer air‐traffic controllers on the job and less oversight of aircraft maintenance. The Trump administration has cut FAA regulatory oversight and fired the safety‐focused people who keep the FAA’s radar, landing, and navigational aids running. The day before America’s first deadly plane crash in 16 years, Trump and Musk invited every air traffic controller in the country to resign. Even after the crash, the slashing has continued.
Nuclear materials get stolen when critical nuclear staff are fired and oversight of weapons labs is gutted. The Trump administration’s random layoffs at the National Nuclear Security Administration have left America’s nuclear arsenal dangerously exposed, risking theft, sabotage, and accidental detonation.
Terrorists attack the United States when our intelligence and law enforcement agencies are hobbled. The Trump administration’s mass firings and program shutdowns at the Department of Justice, the FBI, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and other national security agencies weaken their ability to see threats, leaving the nation vulnerable to coordinated and deadly terrorist strikes.
Pandemics spiral out of control when America’s public-health experts are taken off the job and our scientists are cut off from colleagues around the world. Through funding freezes and mass firings at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health—and pulling the United States out of the World Health Organization—the Trump administration has severely undermined the nation’s ability to detect, contain, and respond to emerging infectious diseases. On Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s first day on the job, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services fired half of the CDC staff who provide America with early warning of emerging epidemics. In addition, the U.S. Department of Agriculture fired plant protection and quarantine staff working to combat bird flu. We may not have to wait long for this disaster to unfold: The Trump administration has fired people serving as the “boots on the ground” in the current fight to keep bird flu contained.
The electric grid fails when not enough people are on hand to keep it running. The Trump administration is firing the linemen, engineers, and dispatchers who maintain America’s power systems. Identities get stolen and bank accounts empty when unvetted amateurs are allowed to rummage through sensitive databases. Trump and Elon Musk have sent a small army of unqualified amateurs—some in their teens—to illegally access America’s most sensitive financial, health, and personal data, including highly restricted payment and Social Security
Roads and bridges collapse when funding for maintenance and new construction is slashed and there’s no one on hand to keep everyone honest. The Trump administration has gutted a host of infrastructure projects and fired the government watchdogs who make sure large-scale building projects are done right.
The world falls apart when companies aren’t held responsible or accountable for complying with environmental laws—think pipeline ruptures, chemical and natural gas explosions, and oil spills. Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency has demoted career staff with the expertise required to enforce pollution laws and oversee safe hazardous waste cleanup and has fired hundreds of workers who respond to environmental disasters and ensure a healthy and safe environment for all Americans.
Emergency responses fail when centralized disaster management is thrown into chaos. Trump’s spending freezes and random firings significantly threaten America’s ability to handle disasters. Even worse: Trump says he wants to get rid of the Federal Emergency Management Agency altogether and let states take care of themselves.
People lose their life’s savings in bank failures caused by risky practices, poor management, and fraud. And lots of banks fail when the mechanisms set up to keep bank failures from spreading are dismantled. The Trump administration is looking to cut the banking regulations that keep Americans’ savings safe and firing the people who work to stop bank failures from spreading like wildfire. These policy changes from the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 playbook “would foster financial market risk-taking while kneecapping regulators’ ability to quell instability,” CAP warned last year.
Markets collapse when investors’ confidence in the stability of the U.S. government is shattered. Trump’s moves to seize control of the Federal Reserve’s regulatory and supervisory responsibilities are unprecedented and are rattling the financial sector. “The Fed’s independence from the White House has historically been seen as crucial to the stability of the economy and the global financial system,” writes The New York Times. Trump’s firings, stop-work orders, and litigation pauses at America’s financial watchdogs and general erratic moves risk grinding America’s and the world’s economies to a halt. Just suspending congressionally authorized payments, alone, is “a breach of trust and ultimately, a form of default.”
Conclusion
One of America’s great strengths—on-screen and in real life—has been the reliability of its institutions, grounded in expertise, robust oversight, and the rule of law. President Trump and Elon Musk’s lawless and erratic actions are weakening, not strengthening, these pillars of strength, so much so that they risk pulling catastrophic Hollywood nightmares off the screen and into real life.
Tom Moore is Senior Fellow, Democracy
