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Obama, Bush Condemn Trump-Era Shutdown of USAID on Agency’s Final Day

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Updated Jul 1, 2025, 12:18 AM

The U.S. Agency for International Development marked its final day as an independent agency on 30 June, ending a six-decade run that began under President John F. Kennedy. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has ordered the humanitarian and development body folded into the State Department on 1 July, with a new foreign-assistance framework to be branded "America First."

During a closed-door video farewell with thousands of staff, former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush issued rare, bipartisan criticism of the Trump administration for dismantling the agency. Obama called the move “a colossal mistake,” arguing that gutting USAID undermines both U.S. security and global prosperity.

Bush highlighted the agency’s role in administering the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, credited with saving 25 million lives. He warned that cuts and rule changes already have reduced access to life-saving care and asked, “Is it in our national interest that 25 million people who would have died now live? I think it is, and so do you.”

Singer and longtime aid advocate Bono also addressed employees, praising them for work that provided food, health care and democracy programs from Sudan to Syria. The shutdown follows years of budget and staffing reductions ordered by President Donald Trump, who, along with ally Elon Musk, accused USAID of waste and fraud. The State Department said the forthcoming structure will ensure tighter oversight of taxpayer dollars.

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