Former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, alongside U2’s Bono, expressed their condolences to USAID employees after the agency was shut down amid allegations of fraud and mismanagement. Obama called the closure “a colossal mistake” and praised USAID’s vital global work, while Bush highlighted the agency’s legacy, especially its AIDS relief efforts credited with saving 25 million lives. Bono, emotionally, recited a poem lamenting the shutdown and its potential human cost.
USAID, founded during the Kennedy administration to provide foreign economic aid, was targeted by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), created under President Trump to cut government waste. Elon Musk, who led DOGE, criticized USAID as a “viper’s nest of radical-left Marxists.” The agency was officially absorbed into the State Department as of July 1.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who acted as USAID’s administrator in its final weeks, stated that the State Department would now handle foreign aid with greater accountability and efficiency, emphasizing alignment with American national interests. Rubio criticized USAID’s record, claiming development goals were often unmet and anti-American sentiment had grown.
The closure reflects Trump’s broader efforts to cut federal waste, including controversial spending at USAID on diversity and social programs abroad, which he publicly criticized as examples of misuse.
