White House welcome mat no longer out for science or advice

WASHINGTON — As President Donald Trump prepares to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to negotiate denuclearization, a challenge that has bedeviled the world for years, he’s doing so without the help of a White House science adviser or senior counselor trained in nuclear physics.

Trump is the first president since 1941 not to name a science adviser, a position created during World War II to guide the Oval Office on technical matters ranging from nuclear warfare to global pandemics.

As a businessman and president, Trump has proudly been guided by his instincts. Nevertheless, people who’ve participated in past nuclear negotiations say the absence of such high-level expertise could put him at a tactical disadvantage in one of the weightiest diplomatic matters of his presidency.

“You need to have an empowered senior science adviser at the table,” said Nicholas Burns, who led negotiations with India over a civilian nuclear deal during the George W. Bush administration. “You can be sure the other side will have that.”

The lack of traditional scientific advisory leadership in the White House is one example of a significant change in the Trump administration: the marginalization of science in shaping U.S. policy.

There’s no chief scientist at the State Department, where science is central to foreign policy matters such as cybersecurity and global warming.

Nor is there a chief scientist at the Agriculture Department: Trump last year nominated Sam Clovis, a former talkshow host with no scientific background, to the position, but he withdrew his name. No new nomination has been made.

These and other decisions have consequences for public health and safety and the economy. Both the Interior Department and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have disbanded climate science advisory committees. The Food and Drug Administration disbanded its Food Advisory Committee, which advised on food safety.

At the same time, government-funded scientists said in interviews that they’re now seeing signs their work is being suppressed, and they’re leaving their government jobs to work in the private sector — or for other countries.

The White House declined to comment on these and other suggestions that the role of science in policymaking has been diminished in the Trump administration.

Regarding this week’s talks with Kim, a spokesman for the White House’s National Security Council, Garrett Marquis, emphasized “the president’s advisers are experts in their fields.”