Bono calls Elon Musk’s DOGE cuts “unconscionable”, says Republican Party was “hijacked”

U2’s Bono has again criticised the international aid cuts carried out through Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), calling them “unconscionable”, in a New York Times interview given alongside The Edge, NME reports. The conversation covered the band’s 50th anniversary and “Carnaval De Luz”, their 16th studio album, out on 13 November.

The singer called the US political situation “the greatest heist in the history of the world” and said the Republican Party had been hijacked in an aggressive takeover under Donald Trump’s administration, inviting conservative voters to return. On the dismantling of USAID, Bono cited estimates from The Lancet of up to five million children under five dying by 2030. A 2025 Lancet study projected about 14 million additional deaths worldwide by 2030, including 4.5 million children under five.

Bono previously clashed with Musk over the cuts after appearing on The Joe Rogan Experience in May 2025; Musk replied on X calling him “such a liar/idiot” and claimed no one had died. The Edge said he shares many of Bono’s views but wants U2’s music to offer an antidote.

U2, the Irish rock band formed in Dublin in 1976, return with their first album of new material since 2017’s “Songs Of Experience”. On 15 October mbuzz reported that the band released the single “The Greatest Show On Earth” and announced the first dates of their 2027 world tour; according to NME, shows are confirmed in Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, with drummer Larry Mullen Jr. returning after surgery. In October the band were also named halftime headliners for the NFL’s first Thanksgiving Eve game.