\n<\/p>\n
\n\tGeorge W. Bush has kept his feelings about Donald Trump\u2019s policies almost completely to himself over the past decade, offering little more than a hushed \u201cthat was some weird shit\u201d<\/a> at the 2017 inauguration. But the Associated Press<\/a><\/em> got their hands on footage from a recent private videoconference call where he joined Barack Obama and Bono<\/a> in addressing the United States Agency for International Development workers who lost their jobs thanks to Trumps\u2019s decision to dismantle the organization,<\/a> lay off much of the staff, and fold what remains into the State Department.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cYou\u2019ve showed the great strength of America through your work \u2013 and that is your good heart,\u2019\u2019 Bush told USAID<\/a> staffers. \u201cIs it in our national interests that 25 million people who would have died now live? I think it is, and so do you.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tObama echoed the sentiment. \u201cGutting USAID is a travesty, and it\u2019s a tragedy,\u201d he said. \u201cBecause it\u2019s some of the most important work happening anywhere in the world\u2026sooner or later, leaders on both sides of the aisle will realize how much you are needed.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tElon Musk has referred to USAID as a \u201ccriminal organization,\u201d<\/a> and Trump said it was run by \u201cradical left lunatics.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \n\tBono, who successfully lobbied Bush throughout his presidency to provide Africa with food, medicine, and debt relief, also appeared in the video. According to the AP<\/em>, he was introduced as a \u201csurprise guest\u201d and appeared in sunglasses and a hat, and referred to the USAID staffers as \u201csecret agents of international development.\u201d He then read a poem about the agency, referencing the children who will die of malnutrition due to Trump\u2019s maneuver. (A study warned that 300,000 people worldwide might die<\/a> due to the cuts.)<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThey called you crooks,\u201d Bono said. \u201cWhen you were the best of us.\u201d<\/p>\n