G.W. Bush Teams With Democrats To Denounce Trump’s USAID Cuts

Former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama have once again joined forces to criticize President Donald Trump, this time over cuts to international programs they say are vital to U.S. interests. In a new video, Bush appears alongside Obama and U2 frontman Bono, an outspoken Trump critic, praising the departing staff of USAID, the international diplomacy agency that Trump significantly reduced earlier this year. Bush has long championed funding for programs combatting AIDS and HIV in parts of Africa.

Bush, who has mostly avoided criticizing Trump since he took office in 2016, used his video remarks to mourn the loss of staffers he credited with promoting global stability by combating the spread of AIDS and HIV—a program credited with saving 25 million lives over the past 20 years.

“You’ve showed the great strength of America through your work — and that is your good heart,’’ Bush told USAID staffers, according to the Associated Press. “Is it in our national interests that 25 million people who would have died now live? I think it is, and so do you.”

“Gutting USAID is a travesty, and it’s a tragedy,” Obama added in a video shown to departing USAID employees on Monday. “Because it’s some of the most important work happening anywhere in the world.” Calling the decision by Trump “a colossal mistake,” he added that “sooner or later, leaders on both sides of the aisle will realize how much you are needed.”READ MORE BELOW

Related Posts

They Left Me Stranded 300 Miles Away as a Joke. Five Years Later, My Husband Found Me — and His Smile Vanished When He Saw Who Stood Behind Me.

The sound of their laughter still echoes in my nightmares sometimes—sharp and jagged, like glass shattering against concrete. But on that blazing afternoon five years ago, standing…

A Couple Left Me With A 400 Dinner Bill Until What They Forgot Changed Everything

When a couple walked out without paying for their dinner, I stood in the middle of the restaurant and cried, because I didn’t have the money to…

The studio was already buzzing before she even stepped onto the stage.

The high-pressure atmosphere of the game show was meticulously designed to overwhelm contestants, using bright lights, a roaring crowd, and a ticking countdown to dismantle confidence piece…

My Son Refused Payment for Every Lawn He Mowed That Summer, but His Final Job Ended With Police at Our Door

In a quiet neighborhood in central Ohio, 12-year-old Justin decided to spend his summer doing something most kids his age wouldn’t think to do: mowing the lawns…

I Welcomed a Teenager Into Our Family to Honor My Husband’s Last Wish — Then She Revealed a Long-Hidden Secret

The morning doctors told us David was nearing the end of his illness, our home already felt different. He was only forty-seven, and the thought of losing…

My Daughter Came Running Inside After Seeing Something in the Yard—What I Found Outside Changed How We Viewed Our Home

My daughter did not simply run inside that afternoon. She came through the door visibly shaken, with tears in her eyes and barely able to explain what…