Bush, Obama, and Bono Join Forces to Condemn Trump’s USAID Shutdown
In a political moment that almost never happens, two former presidents from opposite parties — joined by a rock icon — have stepped back into the public fray to oppose Donald Trump’s dismantling of America’s premier foreign aid agency.
George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and U2 frontman Bono appeared together in a new video, denouncing what they describe as a reckless dismantling of programs that have saved millions of lives worldwide.
But while the message was warm and united, the move has stirred questions in Washington: Is this an urgent defense of life-saving humanitarian work, or a last stand for a powerful institution Trump has vowed to break apart?
A Rare Presidential Alliance
The video, released earlier this week, brought Bush and Obama side by side in a rare bipartisan show of solidarity. Both men spoke directly to employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which has been a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy for six decades.
Bush, whose presidency saw the launch of landmark HIV/AIDS programs in Africa, thanked USAID’s departing staff for their work in fighting global disease.
“You’ve shown the world America’s compassionate spirit,” he said, crediting the agency with saving an estimated 25 million lives. “Is it in our national interest that 25 million people who would have died are now alive? I believe so — and I know you do, too.”
Obama’s remarks carried sharper edges. Calling Trump’s actions “a disgrace” and “a monumental error,” he told the agency’s staff, “What you do is some of the most essential work on the planet. One day, leaders from both sides will realize how crucial you are.”
Bono, long a vocal supporter of U.S. global health initiatives, praised USAID as a symbol of “American generosity in action” and warned of the cost — in human lives — of abandoning its mission.
Trump’s Overhaul and the Musk Factor
The Trump administration, working with Elon Musk and the newly formed U.S. Department of Government Efficiency, began phasing out USAID earlier this year. Officials cited years of documented waste, fraud, and mismanagement. Musk himself labeled the agency “a viper’s nest of radical-left Marxists who despise America,” framing its closure as a win for taxpayers.
This week, the State Department formally absorbed USAID, leaving behind only a skeleton staff. Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the move as overdue reform: “For decades, USAID has fueled a global NGO complex on the backs of American taxpayers, with little measurable success. That era is over. From now on, foreign aid will be tied directly to U.S. strategic goals and run with tighter oversight.”
A Fight Over America’s Role in the World
The clash over USAID has become symbolic of a deeper divide in U.S. foreign policy — between those who see humanitarian aid as a diplomatic necessity and those who view it as wasteful, ineffective, or even counterproductive.
For critics like Bush, Obama, and Bono, shutting down USAID is a moral and strategic mistake. For Trump’s allies, it is the long-overdue end of an entrenched bureaucracy.
Conclusion
The battle over USAID’s fate is more than a budget fight — it’s a test of America’s global identity. Will history see this as the moment Washington streamlined a bloated foreign aid system, or as the point where the U.S. turned away from one of its most visible tools of global engagement? With two ex-presidents and a rock legend rallying against a sitting president’s reforms, the debate is unlikely to fade quietly.