On July 22, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump administration plans to reform the federal scientific research system by increasing support for individual scientists and AI applications, while reducing the emphasis on universities, in order to accelerate technological discoveries and counter competition from China. This plan will affect the allocation of the federal government's annual research and development budget of approximately $200 billion for the remainder of Trump's second term. The new guidelines may impact large universities that rely on federal research funding. The government hopes to prioritize support for individual projects such as scholarships and research awards, and has set more ambitious national goals, such as deploying a powerful quantum computer by 2028 and initiating the construction of 10 new large-scale nuclear reactors by 2030.
