Bono has again criticized Elon Musk’s cuts to international aid, calling them “unconscionable” and saying the Republican Party has been “hijacked” by the Donald Trump administration.
The singer was speaking to the New York Times alongside The Edge, discussing the band’s 50th anniversary and its upcoming 16th studio album, ‘Carnaval De Luz’, which is scheduled for release on November 13.
He described the current political situation in the United States as extraordinary, saying: “I think this is the greatest heist in the history of the world: stealing America. And it’s not a caper movie. It’s real, and it’s happening.”
He continued: “I don’t want to put off good people who vote conservative, who vote Republican. Their party’s been hijacked, and it’s an aggressive takeover. I want to invite them back. I want them to return.”
“People vote conservative for all kinds of reasons that are OK. So if we can talk about it without getting to the usual loggerheads – but this is a serious problem and I have serious personal dealings with this because of 25 years of work in development.”
He was then asked about the U.S. government’s drastic cuts to international aid through Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which oversaw the dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
“I don’t know how many fatalities will eventually be attributed to the DOGE cuts,” Bono replied. “There are many different estimates. If you go to, say, The Lancet, they suggest, I think, up to 2030, maybe five million children under 5. And let’s say they’re half wrong.”
“What Christian household, what Catholic household, what Jewish household, anyone of faith, in fact anyone of conscience, would allow the hemorrhaging of human life that is going to happen as a result of these DOGE cuts? It’s unconscionable.”
A 2025 study published in The Lancet projected that continued drastic reductions in USAID funding could result in approximately 14 million additional deaths worldwide by 2030, including 4.5 million children under five.
Bono has been a prominent campaigner for debt relief, poverty reduction and international development for decades.
He previously clashed with Musk over the USAID cuts following an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience in May 2025. During that conversation, Bono cited estimates of deaths resulting from the funding reductions, as well as reports of aid supplies being left undistributed.
“There’s food rotting in boats, in warehouses – 50,000 tons of it,” he said. “The people who knew the codes, who were responsible for distributing that aid, were fired. That’s not America, is it?”
Musk responded by calling the singer “such a liar/idiot” on X, claiming that “zero people have died” as a result of the USAID cuts. He also invoked an episode of South Park that had mocked Bono.
The following month, Bono joined former U.S. presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush in paying tribute to USAID staff who had lost their jobs.
In the new New York Times interview, The Edge also addressed the band’s relationship with politics, explaining that he broadly shared Bono’s concerns but wanted U2’s music to offer listeners something positive.
U2 announced ‘Carnaval De Luz’ last month, confirming that its 16th studio album will arrive on November 13. It will be the band’s first full-length collection of new material since 2017’s ‘Songs Of Experience’.
The band has also shared the single ‘The Greatest Show On Earth’ and announced the first dates of its 2027 world tour, with shows confirmed in Mexico, Brazil and Argentina.
The tour will mark its first full-scale live performances since its Las Vegas Sphere residency ended in 2024, and will see drummer Larry Mullen Jr. return following surgery.
U2 celebrated its 50th anniversary in September with surprise performances in Dublin, including a return to Mount Temple Comprehensive School, where the four members originally met in 1976.
