It ’s taken the Trump administration more time to name a White House Science Adviser than any administration in forward-looking account . This could lead you to conceive that Trump does n’t care about scientific discipline , but possibly he was just wait for the right candidate to do along . Someone like Bill Gates , for instance .
Gates met with President Trump on March 15th to discuss the various go-ahead of his creation and to argueagainst cutsto foreign economic aid . Since then , Gates hasrevealedsome more detail about that closed - door confluence , including the fact he inspire the president to weigh the potential of a pandemic as a home security terror . On Monday , STAT ran a novel interviewwith Gates in which he say his conversation with Trump unexpectedly seemed to veer into a job offer . The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy ( OSTP ) has perish without a conductor since Trump submit office , and Gates thought it might be good if that position was filled . From the story :
“ I name : ‘ Hey , maybe we should have a skill advisor . ’ ”
And ?
“ He said : Did I want to be the science consultant ? ”
That ’s not the answer Gates was reckon for . “ That ’s not a secure use of my time , ” Gates recall telling the president .
Gates admit he does n’t know what would have happened if he ’d say yes . “ I did n’t put him to the test , whether that was a serious affair or not . He probably himself did n’t know if he was serious . It was a friendly matter . He was being friendly . ”
Good god , the feel on the Microsoft founder ’s boldness must have been invaluable . It ’s totally possible that Trump just wanted to clarify whether or not Gates was angling for a job . Even if he was , it ’s hard to guess how Trump would ’ve responded if Gates said he ’d take the place .
From the get-go of his administration , the president has made oddball pick to result his government . For instance , Rick Perry , a military personnel who is not a atomic physicist , was put in bang of the Department of Energy . He replacedErnest Moniz , a man who is a nuclear physicist . Most of late , Trump picked his White House physician to operate the US Department of Veterans Affairs , a role he was entirely unentitled to plow — and by and by , he was force todrop outof the running play . And Trump loves having fame around . He once tried to convinceSylvester Stalloneto take the National Endowment for the Arts .
At least Gates would be vaguely qualified for the position . Of course , he has right things to do than have his reputation destruct by the Trump geartrain , but the exchange does bring up a good stop : We still do n’t have a science adviser !
Since Congressestablishedthe OSTP in 1976 , the Chief Executive has been given plenty of freedom to get up the department as he sees fit . Before he assumed office , President Obama chose John Holdren , a former Harvard professor with a backcloth in physics and environmental scientific discipline , to start the OSTP . Obama also increased the department ’s staff from the 45 Bush administration holdovers to 135 people . ByJuly of last twelvemonth , all of the senior leading had left the OSTP and the general staff had dwindled to just 35 appendage . By February of this year , Michael Kratsioshad become the most senior official that the department , and its de facto drawing card . Kratsios is 31 - years - honest-to-god , he has adegree in political skill , and before coming to the White House he was tech billionaire Peter Thiel ’s top dog - of - staff .
But would a skill advisor even matter in this administration ? When it comes to scientific egress that are purely political for Trump , that seems improbable . Scientific facts are n’t going to keep us in the Paris Climate accord . It would be nice to know that the president has an expert with some technical knowledge tight advising him on the North Korea nuclear dialogue . In the Obama administration , Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz wasdeeply involvedin the negotiations around the Iran atomic mountain . Whatever your opinion of that batch , you ca n’t possibly believe it would ’ve die better if Rick Perry was doing the technical consulting .
But those are self-aggrandizing matter that Trump tends to give attention to . A science adviser could take on a large role in handling initiatives that vaporize under the radiolocation of this administration . Obama depend to his science adviser and the squad at OSTP to consult on a huge range of issues , including itscancer moonshotinitiative , a multi - million dollarneurotechnology programme , and evenregulationsgoverning commercial-grade pilotless aircraft . Imagine if someone Trump trusted could just talk some sentiency into him regarding net neutrality . Does anyone really believe Trump cares about last neutrality in the slightest ?
The major percentage point Bill Gates was trying to forge home is that a scientific discipline adviser would be especially useful in a crisis . Obamaleanedon the OSTP while dealing with the 2014 Ebola outbreak and the 2010 BP crude oil spill . Gates is currently concerned about the possibility of a pandemic hitting the US or abroad . “ One thing ’s for sure : No matter what your theoretical account is , even if it ’s that human benefit outside the commonwealth count for zero , stopping pandemic is a fresh affair , ” he toldSTAT . He hoped to get Trump concerned in supporting a cosmopolitan grippe vaccine .
biologic calamity are n’t the only potential threats the OSTP could help with . Congress is currentlyfeeling aroundin the dark trying to decide what to do about key questions of privacy , information usage , security , and the overall governance of the net . On top of that , the development of hokey intelligence is move along at a speedy clip and is bound to provoke call for ordinance in the near future .
Considering that Bill and Melinda Gates have beenslightly criticalof Trump , it ’s probably good that he did n’t say yes to Trump ’s question . It could ’ve easily tipped into another Mitt Romney - styleexercise in humiliation . But , for the love of god , someone with factual scientific expertise need to have Trump ’s auricle .
[ STAT ]
Bill GatesDonald Trump
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