France lures 41 US scientists as Trump administration slashes research funding

France has awarded grants to 46 international scientists — 41 of whom are relocating from U.S. institutions — as part of a multimillion-euro initiative to lure global research talent to the country.

The "Choose France for Science" program, valued at more than €30 million, targets researchers amid shifting political and academic landscapes. The recruitment drive follows Donald Trump’s return to the presidency, a term marked by proposed funding cuts, the dissolution of scientific agencies, and increased federal oversight of American universities.

Among the high-profile recruits are UC Berkeley mathematician Zhongkai Tao and astrophysicist Kartik Sheth, a former deputy chief scientist at NASA. Eight of the selected researchers are coming from Columbia University, which saw hundreds of millions of dollars in funding frozen or cut by the Trump administration last year.

The initiative is part of a broader European effort to attract scientific talent wary of changes in the United States. However, some experts argue that the departure of a few dozen scientists will have a negligible impact on the U.S. academic system, which boasts more than 1.5 million faculty members.

Analysts noted that while the French grants are significant, massive American funding sources like the National Institutes of Health (NIH) remain largely irreplaceable.

France is weaponizing academic grants as a strategic instrument in the global competition for intellectual capital. By aggressively courting international researchers—particularly those currently based in the United States—Paris is positioning itself to capitalize on the perceived volatility of the American research environment under the Trump administration to bolster its own technological and scientific standing.

While the relocation of 46 scientists represents a fraction of the vast U.S. R&D ecosystem, the symbolic implications are profound. The move broadcasts a clear signal to the global scientific community: Europe, and France in particular, is positioning itself as a stable sanctuary for academic freedom. By offering sustained investment in climate science and biodiversity—sectors that have met with increasing skepticism from the current U.S. administration—France is filling a policy vacuum left by Washington.

This is an exercise in geopolitical soft power. Should this trend persist, it threatens to erode the long-standing American hegemony in innovation. Even a marginal loss of top-tier talent can stall momentum in critical high-tech sectors, from artificial intelligence to biotechnology. The French initiative, mirrored by similar programs across the European Union, serves as a sharp reminder that American scientific leadership is not an immutable constant; it is a competitive advantage that requires a stable political climate and consistent policy support to maintain.

This narrative mirrors a familiar theme for many in the Vietnamese diaspora: the global movement of talent in search of better professional opportunities. However, this specific "brain drain" from the U.S. to Europe has little direct impact on the economic engines of Little Saigon, such as the nail salon industry or phở restaurants. It remains largely disconnected from the daily lives of Vietnamese Americans, having no bearing on common visa pathways—like F2B, H-1B, TPS, or EB-5—or the steady flow of remittances back home.