Bush and Obama criticize Trump administration for shuttering USAID

Former President George W. Bush joined up with former President Barack Obama and U2 singer Bono to comfort United States Agency for International Development employees Monday, while also taking shots at President Donald Trump and his administration for shuttering the agency plagued by accusations of fraud and abuse. 

“Gutting USAID is a travesty, and it’s a tragedy,” Obama said in a video that was shown to departing USAID employees Monday, according to The Associated Press. “Because it’s some of the most important work happening anywhere in the world.” 

Obama summed up the decision to shutter the agency as “a colossal mistake,” and added that “sooner or later, leaders on both sides of the aisle will realize how much you are needed.”

Bush, Obama and Bono spoke to departing USAID employees Monday in a videoconference as the agency officially was shuttered following the Trump administration’s reporting that it was overrun with alleged corruption and mismanagement. The videoconference did not include members of the media, with The Associated Press reviewing and reporting on clips of the conference later that day.

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USAID is an independent U.S. agency that was established under the Kennedy administration to administer economic aid to foreign nations. It was one of the first agencies investigated by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in early February for alleged mismanagement and government overspending, with DOGE’s then-leader Elon Musk slamming the agency as “a viper’s nest of radical-left marxists who hate America.” 

USAID officially was absorbed by the State Department Tuesday. 

Bush, who overwhelmingly has shied away from publicly criticizing Trump, lamented in his recorded message to the staffers that the end of USAID marks an end to his administration’s work rolling out an AIDS and HIV program that is credited with saving 25 million people nationwide.

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Former President George W. Bush joined up with former President Barack Obama and U2 singer Bono to comfort United States Agency for International Development employees June 30, 2025.  (Kenny Holston/Pool via Reuters)

“You’ve showed the great…