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Hope You Don't Need An MRI! Trump's War Slashed World's Helium Supply

It's what's used for MRIs, and the supplies are shrinking from Trump's war.

Marc Johnson, a virologist and professor at the University of Missouri, revealed Monday that his institution’s supply of a critical medical resource will be “cut in half” as a result of the Trump administration’s Epstein war, and it may carry far-reaching consequences for medical facilities nationwide.

“I hope no one needs an MRI this year,” Johnson wrote in a social media post on X to their nearly 40,000 followers. “The world's largest producer of liquified helium is in Qatar and is shut off. We just got a notice that our supply for the year will be at least cut in half. No one could have predicted this (unless they thought about it).”

The U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, which Trump initiated late last month as a solution to mounting outrage over the Epstein files, has predictably caused an oil shortage, sending energy prices skyrocketing. However, the war has also sparked a major shortage of helium, which plays a critical role in the function of MRI scanners thanks to its “extremely low boiling point.” Beyond imaging, helium also plays a role in other medical applications, including surgery and research.

“We got a notification from our gas supplier that they would be able to fulfill less than 50% of our regular consumption, and a message from the University hospital saying that this is particularly problematic for MRIs,” Johnson wrote in a separate social media post. “The helium shortage is real and there will be consequences.”

FYI, Qatar supplies a third of the world’s helium.

Get ready to learn a lot more about Helium.

There's going to be a global shortage due to this completely prevantable and unnecessary war.

www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

Wajahat Ali (@wajali.bsky.social) 2026-03-24T02:37:09.026Z

Update:

#StayReadyCrew

There’s for sure going to be a helium shortage.

Beyond balloons this is going to affect the medical industry too.

Think MRIs and hyperbaric medicine.

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Miss Aja (@brat2381.bsky.social) 2026-03-25T00:17:34.995Z

There’s probably going to be a helium shortage.

www.newsweek.com/how-iran-war...

Miss Aja (@brat2381.bsky.social) 2026-03-22T01:19:16.283Z

President Trump announces that due to the helium shortages he will reduce the frequency of his preventative screening MRIs to one per week.

Missing The Point (@missingthept.bsky.social) 2026-03-25T10:34:22.344Z

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