Former U.S. Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush have issued rare public rebukes of the Trump administration over the closure of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), warning of devastating global consequences.
Their comments follow the release of a new study predicting “a staggering number” of avoidable deaths resulting from the agency’s dismantling.
The two former leaders addressed USAID employees during a video farewell marking the agency’s final day as an independent entity.
Their statements come after Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced in March that 83% of USAID’s programmes had been cancelled. The agency is being absorbed into the State Department and replaced by a new body named America First.
A study published in “The Lancet” estimates that the cuts could cause over 14 million additional deaths by 2030, with children accounting for a third of that number.
The multinational research group behind the report credits USAID’s funding over the past two decades with helping to prevent more than 91 million deaths in low- and middle-income countries through support for health care, nutrition, humanitarian aid, education, and development.
“Unless the abrupt funding cuts announced and implemented in the first half of 2025 are reversed, a staggering number of avoidable deaths could occur by 2030,” the researchers concluded.
They warned that for many of the world’s poorest nations, “the resulting shock would be similar in scale to a global pandemic or a major armed conflict,” but noted it “would stem from a conscious and avoidable policy choice.”
Founded in the 1960s by President John F. Kennedy, USAID had long enjoyed bipartisan support. That changed under Donald Trump’s administration, which aggressively targeted the agency.
Trump labeled it as being run by “radical left lunatics” and accused it of “tremendous fraud,” while Elon Musk called it “a criminal organisation.”
In a pre-recorded video message shared during the private staff call, Obama called the agency’s closure “a colossal mistake.” Though the event was not open to the media, portions of the footage were shared with the Associated Press.
“Gutting USAID is a travesty, and it’s a tragedy. Because it’s some of the most important work happening anywhere in the world,” Obama said, praising the agency for saving lives and supporting economic development that had transformed aid recipients into U.S. trade partners.
“Sooner or later, leaders on both sides of the aisle will realise how much you are needed,” he added.
Bush, in his remarks, focused on funding cuts to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which has saved an estimated 25 million lives worldwide.
“Is it in our national interests that 25 million people who would have died now live? I think it is, and so do you,” he said.
The farewell also featured U2 frontman Bono, who read a poem written for the occasion. “They called you crooks/When you were the best of us,” he told the departing staff.
