Bulwark Takes - Obama and Bush Team Up To Shred Trump Over USAID

Episode Date: July 2, 2025

In a rare moment of public unity, Barack Obama and George W. Bush condemned Trump for shutting down USAID. The closure ends a bipartisan legacy of providing lifesaving aid, leaving millions without vital medicine and support.

Hey, everybody. Tim O' from The Bullwork here. In the rush of everything around the reconciliation bill over in Congress, we haven't had a chance to talk about USAID being officially shuttered. That is such a massive story that on Monday, Barack Obama and George W. Bush delivered a rare joint open criticism and attack on the Trump administration with regards to their shuttering of USAID. So when Obama and Bush team up to put together a video shitting on Trump, I mean, I do think that really tells you something because both of them have been in ways that I've critiqued at some point, particularly Bush, really quiet, as a lot of things have gone wrong in the country. And I guess before I get into the USAID thing, I'll just hit that head on.

I understand the impulse of former presidents to not want to meddle. You know, I do. I understand George W. Bush's view, even Clinton wasn't that active, but he didn't love that Clinton would be critiquing him. At the same time, he didn't want to do that to Obama. I think there's something to be said for that. Trump is a different animal, though, and I think the moment is called for more, particularly from George W. Bush, since this is his party. And so I do want to give them credit when they speak out. And, you know, we did the interview with Nick Kristof that just talked about all the harm and he told these horror stories of his visit to Africa

to check that out on this feed, because Nick is unbelievable and his reporting is unbelievable. And there's an I've been reading even more stories since I talked to Nick just because I'm you know, because I don't want to ignore it. I want to feel it like I want people to understand and feel the real loss that we have caused that our country has caused Donald Trump and Elon Musk have caused the pain and the suffering of these little babies in Africa and elsewhere that don't have access to life-saving medicines, don't have access to the nutrition they need, when we can give it to them when we have it. And we're just not in the name of some, I guess, idea that we want to, you know, whatever,

get the budget under control and not support that communist steep state. It just doesn't even make any sense. They're simultaneously as they're passing this budget busting bill, like in the name of government efficiency and cutting government budgets, they are getting rid of this program that's a minuscule part of the budget that would actually save the lives of the poorest people in the world. It's, it's tough. So what we had, I want to talk to you about what happened here. So the former presidents with Bono spoke with thousands in the USAID community, which I think is nice at a video conference. The remarks were, according to the Associated Press, angry and teary. The

two former presidents expressed their appreciation for USAID staffers who lost their job and their life's work. Obama said, quote, your work has mattered and will matter for generations to come. And that's, again, there's so much the government does that is amorphous and hard to grab and even wasteful at times, we can be honest. Like, this program, USAID, was tangible. It was us doing the right thing. It was us helping people and saving people. It was bipartisan. And it was the type of work that people could do to feel good about themselves, to feel fulfilled. And to just gut it willy nilly to close it, shutter it willy nilly. It's just sick. Here's more from Obama, gutting USAID is a travesty and it's a tragedy. It's some of the most important work happening anywhere in the world. He also noted

that it didn't just save lives, it helped global economic growth, which is something that we've seen significantly over the past decades. And then Obama says something I guess I disagree with. He says, sooner or later, leaders on both sides of the aisle will realize how much you are needed. I hope that's true, but I don't believe it to be true. As for President Bush's comments, former President Bush, he said, you've showed the great strength of America through your work, and that is your good heart. He also asked this rhetorical question, is it in our national interest that 25 million people who would have died now live? I think it is, and so do you. He's now talking about

the past work of USAID and all of the lives that have been saved. So good. Good for Barack Obama. Good for George W. Bush. I would like to see more. I said this, I said this publicly, I don't think so. When I was doing the Kristoff interview, you know, sometimes in these conversations, I try to entertain y'all, you know, sometimes I like try to just let it rip and let you guys feel my anger. And sometimes it's fun to mock and point at the Republicans, because I do think withering mockery is sometimes called for. But you know, that's stuff I don't think lands with like people that like Trump or that are not as engaged in partisan politics. And so when

I was talking to Christoph, I tried very hard to do an interview that you could share, that people could share with their Republican friends and just say, can you really be for this? Because I don't think, I mean, I think that there are obviously plenty of Republicans that are for it. But there's a big category of people that don't want African babies to die for no reason. I believe that. I think that this is a fault that we have. The country has a lot of problems, and we have a lot of sinners, and we have a lot of people here that I think are cruel, and I've been disappointed by my fellow Americans in many ways, but I just know that there's another category of people that have gone along with Trump for economic reasons

that can be moved by this stuff. And I think we need to continue to try. So I hope that Barack Obama and George W. Bush continue to speak up about this? If you have somebody in your life, do you think that's that category? I'd encourage you to share the Nick Kristof podcast with them or find a clip from it to share it with them. Maybe that will have an impact. Maybe it won't. Don't do it. Don't do it to like piss somebody off. I'm not talking about getting in a fight. Don't pick some fight. You know, don't try to virtue signal to your friend you always argue with about Maga. I'm talking about people that aren't as engaged. If you're someone in your life, a younger person or something that's not as engaged in politics and doesn't really know

what's happening. Maybe that can resonate with them. And hopefully maybe George W. Bush and Barack Obama can help a breakthrough. So anyway, there's that. Wanted to credit them for speaking out on this and make sure that you all saw that. Subscribe to our feed. We'll be back here with more as news develops. See you soon.