U2 frontman Bono has never shied away from controversy — and now he’s turning his attention to two global power players: Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
During a three-hour interview onThe Joe Rogan Experience, Bono fiercely criticized the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), calling its budget cuts “pure evil.” DOGE, a Trump-era initiative led by Musk, aimed to slash government spending. Bono cited research from Boston University, warning the cuts could lead to over300,000 global d**ths.
“There’s food rotting in boats and warehouses — 50,000 tons of it,” Bono said. “The people who knew the codes, who were responsible for distributing that aid, were fired. That’s not America, is it?”
Bono isn’t the only music icon speaking out. Bruce Springsteen has used his tour to criticize Trump directly, telling fans:
“In America, the richest men are taking satisfaction in abandoning the world’s poorest children to sickness and death… and they take sadistic pleasure in the pain they inflict on loyal American workers.”
Elon Musk didn’t hold back. Responding on X, he called Bono “such a liar” and “an idiot,” denying any deaths from the DOGE cuts:
“Zero people have died because of the cuts to USAID,” he wrote.
Musk even citedSouth Park, quipping, “They lampooned Bono as the biggest s*** in the world. They were right.”