Why did Bob Geldof call Elon Musk and POTUS Trump 'Thugs' during Live Aid anniversary? Complete controversy explained

Irish singer-songwriter and political activist Bob Geldof called Elon Musk and President Donald Trump “thugs” during the 40th anniversary event of Live Aid, to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia.

A report in The Nightly, Geldof’s remarks come as he criticized what he described as the “death of kindness” in modern society, which he attributed to Trump, Musk, and Vice President JD Vance.

Geldof reunited with other artists on July 13, 2025, to mark the concert’s 40th anniversary as they attended a performance of Just For One Day: The Live Aid Musical. Reportedly, the Live Aid concert in 1985 raised £140 million (AU$287 million). Drawing a comparison between the social climate in 1985 and the present day. He said:

“That the society that was, as exemplified by the younger people and the cast in 1985, has been almost reproduced with those thugs like Trump, and Vance and Musk and this new death of kindness.”

Continue to read more about Bob Geldof’s statements against Trump, Vance, and Musk.

Exploring the controversy as Bob Geldof calls out President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and Vance at the Live Aid concert in 2025

Bob Geldof’s outspoken remarks against President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and Vice President J.D. Vance during events tied to the 40th anniversary of Live Aid in 2025 stem from his frustration with their roles in cuts to U.S. foreign aid funding.

He first called out Trump and Musk during a concert at the Rewind Festival in Dublin in June 2025. While performing with his band, The Boomtown Rats, Bob Geldof accused them of having “declared a war on the weakest, poorest, most vulnerable people on our planet".

A report in the Irish Star stated that Bob Geldof said during the concert,

“A couple of Irish singers have been going around the world this week, Bruce in London, Bono in LA and us here, and all of us have said the same thing, that the strongest nation in the world, the most powerful man on the planet, and the richest ever human being in the history of the world, on the first of February 2025 declared a war on the weakest, poorest, most vulnerable people on our planet.”

He continued:

“When that f------ hedge-trimming, catatonic f------... Musk decided that he would cut US aid, food, and medicine. Since that moment, he was wielding his hedge-trimmer, 300,000 of the poorest people in the world have died because of that f---.”

Bob Geldof, who co-organized Live Aid in 1985 with Midge Ure to raise funds for famine relief in Ethiopia, reunited with him at Wembley Stadium on May 1, 2025, per the Express.

Geldof’s second remark against Musk comes during his appearance at the Shaftesbury Theatre on June 11, 2025. Slamming Musk for his empathy remark made in February 2025, during his appearance on the podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, he said:

“A couple of weeks ago, that prime w**ker Elon Musk said the great weakness of Western civilisation is empathy. The great weakness? You ketamine-crazed fool. You sociopathic loser.”

He added,

“Empathy is the glue of civilisation. Empathy is the glue of humanity. It’s how we do things together, how we sit here together and clap because we actually understand that this is the stuff that works.”

He also branded Musk, Trump, Vance, and US Secretary of State Mark Rubio ‘liars’. He said:

“When they say they’re sending food to the starving children of Sudan who are being held captive and starved to death, when they say they are helping gang-raped women who are broken and their panicked children, that’s a lie.”

The controversy underscores ongoing tensions pertaining to global aid and the roles political figures play in helping people during a crisis.

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