Joe Rogan delivers bold message about Trump’s USAID cuts: “No way that should have been cut out”
Joe Rogan and Bono found some common ground as they discussed Elon Musk’s role in the gutting of USAID and the devastating impacts those cuts are having on the ground.
Podcast host Joe Rogan, who endorsed Donald Trump in 2024 and has been a vocal supporter of billionaire Elon Musk, criticized cuts to USAID that have been touted as successful examples of cutting government waste and fraud.
In a recent episode with Bobo, Rogan discussed the slashing of USAID, the primary vehicle for foreign aid, which Musk gutted in the early weeks of the Trump administration. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who would have overseen the agency, was not even confirmed when many of the cuts were made. Bono is a well-known philanthropist and was eager to discuss with Rogan the impact the cuts are having on people all over the world.
The Irish singer cited a model created by Dr. Brooke Nichols, an infectious disease mathematical modeller at Boston University, which uses grant and health data to estimate the number of deaths that have resulted from the USAID cuts by Musk and DOGE. Though it has increased slightly, Bono highlighted that Dr. Nichols’ estimates placed the number of fatalities at 300,000. Later, when videos of this claim began circulating on social media, Elon Musk responded directly, calling Bono a “liar” and asserting, again, that “zero people have died.”
Bono called Rogan’s attention to the 60,000 pounds of food that, as of mid-May, was still sitting undisturbed in ports and warehouses, and not being sent to the places where the aid is desperately needed to avoid famine and hunger.
Bono and Rogan found some common ground.
Rogan took issue with the fact that the cuts were made so rapidly, giving little time to teams in countries receiving the critical aid, time to respond and plan accordingly. The podcaster argued that if the administration wanted to cut life-saving aid, including the delivery of medications and food assistance, they should have given the agency time to prepare; Rogan said that a three-year timeline might be more appropriate than the hours and days program teams were given.
“There is no way that should have been cut,” said Rogan, when describing programs related to well-drilling and the distribution of medicine.
Rogan promotes Musk’s claims of widespread fraud
The host accepted that there were plenty of “organizations that do tremendous good throughout the world,” but added, without a citation, that there has also been tremendous fraud happening. The only authority Rogan has been able to point to is Elon Musk, and the claims made by DOGE. He then goes on to claim that within the US government, there is a lack of oversight of public funds, and that trillions of dollars have been allocated with no receipt, and that, because it is public money, no one is held accountable.
There are stringent laws in place about how and when a government spends money. There are procurement laws that aim to reduce corrupt practices, and any organization receiving government funds must comply with strict auditing and financial reporting standards. Failure to comply can result in criminal charges, fines, and other penalties. Does fraud take place? Of course, but the scale at which Rogan and Musk are talking about has yet to be demonstrated publicly or verified.
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