A letter to every friend, follower, or stranger who still doesn’t get it
Let’s skip the pleasantries. If you consider yourself my friend—and you say you loved Kingston—you need to read every single word of this. Pediatric cancer research cuts didn’t just impact policy. They helped kill my son and tens of thousands of kids just like him.
Because that’s exactly what happened.
My son didn’t just die of cancer. He died of bureaucracy. Of outdated protocols. Of political indifference. Of systemic failures that could have been changed. Of insurance companies that stalled. Of Medicaid that didn’t move fast enough. And of leadership that gutted the very systems that were supposed to help him.
So no, I don’t want to hear how you voted for Trump because of “the economy.”
I don’t care if your 401(k) looked a little better for a year or two.
Because while you were getting a tax break, my kid was dying in a hospital room where every single scan, surgery, and treatment was delayed, denied, or debated.
Trump’s Budget Cuts Didn’t Just Affect Programs—They Affected People. Like My Son.
Here’s what you need to understand: the Trump administration didn’t just ignore pediatric cancer. It actively hurt it.
In 2025, Trump’s proposed federal budget completely eliminated the $20 million that had been specifically set aside for childhood cancer research. That money was supposed to go toward developing better, less toxic treatments for kids like Kingston. It wasn’t reallocated. It didn’t “get folded in” somewhere else. It vanished.
Meanwhile, the defense budget soared to $886 billion.
You want to talk about fiscal priorities?
We spent nearly $30 billion on fossil fuel subsidies.
We spent $10 billion on a single fighter jet program.
But couldn’t spare $20 million for children dying from cancer?
We’re not talking about millions of kids. We’re talking about just over 10,000 children diagnosed with cancer each year in the U.S. And we couldn’t protect funding for them?
That’s not pro-life. That’s not pro-family. That’s not Christian. That’s cruelty wrapped in a flag, kissed by billionaires, and handed back to us with a smirk.
Don’t Try to Justify It with “Prevention” Over Treatment
When pediatric cancer research cuts were announced, people started defending them by saying the administration wanted to focus on “finding the cause of cancer” instead of funding treatment.
What kind of warped logic is that?
You can’t prevent cancer in someone who already has it.
That’s not how biology works.
That’s not how time works.
That’s not how anything works.
Sure, environmental research matters. Clean air, clean food, regulated toxins—yes, study those things. But Kingston’s cancer was a random gene mutation. A single cell went rogue. There was no environmental trigger, no family history, no diet-related cause.
What about those kids? The ones who can’t be explained? The ones with spontaneous mutations that hit like lightning?
According to the American Cancer Society and NCI, most childhood cancers are not preventable. Unlike adult cancers, they aren’t strongly linked to lifestyle or environment. 80% of pediatric cancers have no known cause.
So what, exactly, is the justification for Trump’s pediatric cancer research cuts and the gutting of treatment funding? Are we really going to let kids die while we chase data on pesticides—pretending prevention matters more than keeping a child alive right now?
How does studying what’s in processed cheese help a child whose brain tumor is compressing their motor cortex right now?
If you want to study causes, great. Do it. But don’t you dare justify that as a reason to defund the only things keeping these kids alive. That argument isn’t just lazy—it’s offensive.
Trump Didn’t Just Cut Research. He Attacked the Very System That Gave Kingston a Chance.
Kingston was on Medi-Cal. That’s California’s Medicaid program. It’s how we got his diagnosis, how we accessed specialists, and how we got him into a hospital when things got critical. It was our safety net, and even with it, we still had to fight like hell for what he needed.
And still, the Trump administration backed budgets that called for $880 billion in Medicaid cuts over 10 years. They proposed turning Medicaid into block grants, capping federal funding, and leaving states scrambling to make up the difference.
What would that have looked like for us? Kingston would’ve been kicked off coverage—or denied services entirely.
And he wouldn’t have been the only one. Medicaid covers 35 million children, including most kids with disabilities, cancer, and other complex medical needs. Cut it, and you’re cutting off air. You’re telling families like mine to go bankrupt, go without, or go beg.
We didn’t “abuse the system.” The system barely worked as it was. And you wanted to shred it further?
And He Went After the Department of Education, Too
Just in case it wasn’t enough to dismantle healthcare, Trump also signed an executive order aimed at eliminating the U.S. Department of Education. His plan? Hand all educational control to states and local governments and wash the federal government’s hands of it.
Why does that matter? Because the Department of Education oversees IDEA, the law that ensures children with disabilities get a free and appropriate public education.
Without it, schools don’t have to provide speech therapy. Or adaptive technology. Or individualized education plans. They don’t have to meet federal standards. And children like Kingston, who lost his ability to walk, talk, and process like he used to after treatment, would have been left behind—again.
Do you think most school districts have the resources or the will to support kids with profound needs without federal oversight?
You say you support states’ rights? Great. But when that means denying therapy to a child who’s relearning how to speak, that’s not freedom. That’s abandonment.
These Are the Real Numbers—And They’re Horrifying
Let’s be crystal clear about what this administration prioritized and what it discarded:
• $6.4 billion: National Cancer Institute annual budget
• Of that, only 4–8% ($256M–$512M) goes to pediatric cancer
• $886 billion: Defense budget in 2025
• $30+ billion/year: Fossil fuel subsidies
• $1.9 trillion: Cost of the 2017 tax cuts over 10 years
• $1 billion: NIH research funding cut in 2025
• $20 million: Pediatric cancer research funding that was removed
• 10,000+ children diagnosed with cancer each year
• 2 out of 3 survivors will live with long-term side effects
• 7.5 million students rely on IDEA and special education services
• 35 million kids depend on Medicaid
This administration told all of them—directly or indirectly—you don’t matter.
You Say You Love Him. Then Prove It.
I am not asking for handouts. I am asking for a functioning system. For leadership that values lives over headlines. For elected officials who understand that kids fighting cancer don’t have time for paperwork delays and budget games.
And if you voted for Trump, you didn’t just vote for a man. You voted for policies that made it harder for me to save my son. You voted for less research, fewer supports, more waiting, and more suffering.
You voted for the system that said Kingston wasn’t worth the cost.
So don’t tell me you love him.
Because love doesn’t look like that.
I Hope This Makes You Uncomfortable. It Should.
If you say you care about kids, then act like it.
If you say you loved Kingston, stop backing the people who helped bury him.
If you believe children are the future, then fight for the ones who are still here.
Because I’ve lived the alternative.
I’ve watched doctors shake their heads when there were no new options.
I’ve waited on hold for hours trying to get Medicaid to approve basic therapy.
I’ve spent weeks begging for a wheelchair, or a transfer, or a referral.
I’ve seen my son lose function and hope while the system delayed.
And then, I held him while he died.
He deserved better.
The Bottom Line: If You Still Support Trump, Don’t Tell Me You Love Kids Like Mine.
Because if your vote supports cuts to research, to Medicaid, to special education, to the very systems that give kids like Kingston a chance to live, learn, recover, or even just be comfortable—then you are not an ally to these kids.
You are part of the problem.
It’s time to decide what matters more:
Your politics?
Or your people?
Because Kingston didn’t die so you could keep pretending that ANY of this is “okay.”
Sources:
Funding for Childhood Cancer Research Cut From U.S. Spending Bill
NIH Research Funding Drops $1B Under Trump Administration
Trump Endorses Budget That Would Slash Medicaid Funding
Trump Signs Executive Order to Dismantle Education Department
IDEA Protections for 7.5M Children at Risk
Learn more about Kingston’s journey:
The Eulogy: September 8, 2025
Held Hostage By Protocol
Read more on our blog…