A very odd query went out today through NIH: a “short turnaround call” from the office of the director looking for “every NIH investment in South Africa.” The query aims to collect a list of all “intramural projects, contracts or other projects” by tomorrow (Wednesday, March 11th, 2025).
The document went out today.
I’m told that such a query about a specific country is highly unusual.
In ordinary times it might mean almost anything. But in these abnormal times, this has to be seen in the context of President Trump’s and Elon Musk’s escalating war with South Africa. Musk has been escalating his neo-apartheid attacks on the country and is in a battle with its the government over the use of Starlink. Meanwhile Trump has been joining his efforts, recently making a big exception to his refugee ban for Afrikaners, white South Africans of Dutch descent, to “promote the[ir] resettlement” in the United States.
I stress again: there’s nothing in the document I reviewed that provides any indication about why the Office of the Director wants this information. But this seems like the most obvious explanation, for the reasons I note.
