With several moves, including his targeting of Harvard University research grants, Trump has recently ended several “cruel” research projects long opposed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and the White Coat Waste Project.

At Harvard, Trump ended funding for grants supporting testing on baby monkeys taken from their mothers. Some tests looked at the harmful impact on developing brains when the eyes of young monkeys were sewn shut.

“PETA applauds the Trump administration’s decision to strip funding from one of the cruelest experiments ever devised and perpetrated on infant monkeys,” PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo said.

Meanwhile, the Navy ended testing on monkeys after a long campaign by the White Coat Waste Project. The target was a $10 million Navy contract for tests on cats.

Navy Secretary John Phelan announced on X Tuesday night, “It gives me great pleasure to terminate all Department of the Navy’s testing on cats and dogs, ending these inhumane practices and saving taxpayer dollars. This is long overdue. I commend @POTUS, @SecDef, and @DOGE for bringing this to light.”

Today it gives me great pleasure to terminate all Department of the Navy’s testing on cats and dogs, ending these inhumane practices and saving taxpayer dollars. This is long overdue. I commend @POTUS, @SecDef and @DOGE for bringing this to light. pic.twitter.com/joKRfuNbF4

— Secretary of the Navy John C. Phelan (@SECNAV) May 27, 2025

Justin Goodman, senior vice president of the White Coat Waste Project, told Secrets on Wednesday, “From defunding the Wuhan lab to shutting down the government’s largest cat lab, President Trump’s first administration delivered historic wins against wasteful government animal experiments exposed by White Coat Waste.”

“Now, with bold action to close the NIH’s last in-house dog lab, cancel cruel taxpayer-funded transgender animal experiments, and ban the Pentagon’s pet abuse uncovered by WCW, President Trump is picking up right where he left off — Making America Greater for Animals,” Goodman said.

PETA told Secrets that it is pushing Harvard to fund a sanctuary for the animals in its now-canceled lab programs. If not, PETA fears the university will euthanize the monkeys.

Guillermo offered to help Harvard find sanctuary for the monkeys affected by the National Institutes of Health grant cuts. 

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“Harvard owes the monkeys a decent retirement to a reputable sanctuary now that federal funding has ended. Recently, Harvard’s Sarah Fortune claimed monkeys might have to be euthanized if funding is cut — pretending that she doesn’t kill monkeys when she’s done with them anyway — adding urgency to PETA’s offer to help find a suitable home where the monkeys can live out their lives in peace. Harvard must do right by the animals it has caged and profited from, and PETA is ready, willing, and able to help,” Guillermo said.

Letter From PETA to HMS Re Sanctuary Placement for Monkeys in Schools Laboratories May 27 2025 by web-producers

PETA’s lab investigator Katherine Roe also sent a letter to Harvard urging compassion. In it, she wrote, “A sanctuary would offer them what they’ve never had: fresh air, companionship, room to roam, and some measure of peace. It’s a chance to let them form bonds with other monkeys, engage in natural behaviors, and begin healing from years of psychological deprivation. It would also relieve the university of the ongoing cost and controversy of housing them in a laboratory.”