Former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, along with U2 frontman Bono, addressed USAID staff following the agency’s shutdown amid allegations of fraud and mismanagement. Speaking via videoconference, Obama called the closure “a colossal mistake,” while Bush defended USAID’s life-saving global work, especially the HIV/AIDS initiative launched during his presidency. Bono, emotional in his remarks, read a poem mourning the agency’s end and decried the political rhetoric that labeled staff as “crooks.”

The event came after the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, targeted USAID as part of a broader effort to eliminate what it called bloated, ineffective government programs. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced USAID’s functions would be absorbed into the State Department. He criticized the agency’s post–Cold War performance, citing poor results and rising anti-American sentiment. Trump, celebrating $22 billion in identified waste, mocked specific programs as examples of misused funds. USAID, created in 1961, officially ceased foreign aid operations on July 1, marking the end of an era in U.S. development diplomacy.