What the Diarrhea Parasite Outbreak Says About Trump's America

New details are emerging around Trump’s role in the diarrhea parasite outbreak.

Over the last few weeks, a parasite known as Cyclospora has been spreading across the United States, causing over 11,500 people across 41 states to come down with a case of explosive diarrhea.

In other words: it’s miserable.

The FDA announced that, during its investigation, it had detected Cyclospora in a produce sample connected to Taylor Farms, one of the country’s largest fresh produce suppliers. Within days, headlines spread across social media identifying Taylor Farms as the likely culprit.

Then, suddenly, the FDA walked back its findings, saying additional testing showed the result was likely a false positive, and that there wasn’t enough evidence to conclude Taylor Farms was responsible after all.

Seems weird. Probably just an error.

Or is it?

Almost immediately, social media was flooded with accusations that the Trump administration had pressured the FDA to protect a politically connected company. Fear spread that the politicization and corruption of the federal government was hiding public health information from Americans and making them sick.

As a direct result of its past actions, millions of Americans no longer trust this administration to separate the public interest from its own political and financial interests.

That’s not an accident. It’s a clear pattern.

Let’s dive in:

🥬 Taylor Farms, Inc. donated $1 million to Donald Trump’s Super PAC in 2025. Then, less than a week after returning to office, the Trump administration delayed enforcement of the FDA’s new Food Traceability Rule – a regulation that would’ve required companies to keep far more detailed records of where their food comes from and where it goes to. Seems like those records might be helpful right about now! The produce industry was vehemently opposed and had spent years lobbying against the rule. Then, Trump came along.

🏥 In the midst of Trump’s DOGE chaos, a USAID-funded program that monitored and helped contain the flesh-eating New World screwworm in Central America was eliminated. At the time, Trump called it another example of wasteful foreign aid serving no benefit to the American people. Months later, screwworm has resurfaced in the United States for the first time since 1966, forcing the administration into launching an emergency response projected to cost taxpayers $1 billion to address a clearly avoidable crisis.

💰In just one example (among many) of crypto-related corruption, the SEC quietly paused its civil fraud case against crypto billionaire Justin Sun. Of course, this just happened to coincide with Sun dramatically increasing his financial ties to Trump’s own cryptocurrency ventures which have seen his personal wealth balloon by $1.2 billion in just one year.

At the same time, the administration began pulling back enforcement actions against several major cryptocurrency firms and publicly opposed any legislation that would seek to impose regulations on the crypto industry. In doing so, Trump sent a clear message to the wealthiest Americans: They had a friend in Trump.

📱The latest move selling out regular Americans in favor of the wealthy and well-connected came when Truth Social, Trump’s preferred mode of ranting and raving, announced that it would begin offering Wall Street traders early access to market moving presidential announcements (for a hefty price, of course).

In doing so, Trump has now effectively monetized privileged information that could influence stock prices before regular Americans have a chance to react. He’s literally created a structural barrier to your success.

Viewed individually, each of these moves can be plausibly explained. That is, if you’re willing to bend over backwards to accept it. Viewed together, though, they tell a very different story.

They tell the story of an administration that has obliterated the line between governing for the public good and rewarding friends, donors, and political allies.

What we do know, though, is that Trump has made one thing crystal clear: if you’re willing to pay enough, MAGA is perfectly comfortable putting thousands of Americans at risk.

In other words: In Trump’s America, unless you have $1 million to fork over, you’re expendable.