Bono, U2’s renowned leader, has never held back—and now he’s taking aim at two of the world’s most contentious power players: Donald Trump and Elon Musk. In a forceful statement, the rock icon denounced DOGE cutbacks as “pure evil.” It didn’t take long for Tesla entrepreneur Elon Musk to respond — and his reaction was anything but polite.

Donald Trump has always faced criticism, but recently, two of the biggest superstars in the music industry have spearheaded the attack. Bruce Springsteen, famed for his deep-rooted American principles, has been taking shots at the former president on his current tour. From the platform, The Boss fired up the audience with a stinging scolding.

“In America, the richest men take pleasure in abandoning the world’s poorest children to illness and death.” That is happening right now. In my nation, they take sadistic delight in the suffering they cause devoted American workers.”

He specifically targeted the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). And now, Springsteen is not alone: U2’s Bono has entered the fight, hurling punches not just at Trump but also at Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. During a three-hour interview on The Joe Rogan Experience, Bono criticized the contentious Department of Government Efficiency, sometimes known as DOGE, a Trump administration program previously led by Musk.

Musk, who became close to Trump during his presidential campaign, led DOGE, an organization dedicated to reducing government spending. But early this month, he unexpectedly stepped back, declaring on his platform X (previously Twitter):

“As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending.” “The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.”

But Bono was unimpressed. On Rogan’s program, the U2 frontman cited Boston University research, arguing that DOGE cutbacks might have catastrophic global implications.

“There’s food rotting in boats, in warehouses—50,000 tons of it,” he told me. “We fired the people who knew the codes and were responsible for distributing the aid.” “That is not America, is it?”

Musk responded savagely. According to the report Bono cited, budget cuts might result in over 300,000 fatalities worldwide. Elon Musk didn’t take the charges well. He shot back at X, branding Bono such a liar” and an “idiot, and flatly denied any casualties related to DOGE.

“Zero people have died” as a result of USAID cuts. He did not stop there. Musk made another jab: South Park portrayed Bono as the biggest s*** in the world.” They were correct.”

Despite the mudslinging, Musk has lately expressed dissatisfaction with Trump’s current legislative campaign, a massive budget package known as the Big, Beautiful Bill. The measure offers significant tax cuts and a greater military budget, but it reduces government investment for health and energy programs.

Speaking on CBS Sunday Morning, Musk admitted:

“I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, which increases the budget deficit instead of decreasing it and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing.”

“The whipping boy for everything”
He made the following point: “I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful, but I don’t know if it can be both.”

Musk went further in an interview with The Washington Post, stating that DOGE has become an easy target and is increasingly receiving blame for everything. Therefore, a catastrophic event could occur anywhere, and we would bear the blame even if we had no involvement in it.

“The federal bureaucracy situation is even worse than I expected. I suspected there were problems, but attempting to fix things in DC is, to say the least, a difficult task.”