Bono believes the Republican Party has been “hijacked” by Donald Trump‘s administration, but says it does not represent conservatives as a whole, whom he wants to welcome back to U2‘s fanbase. The singer discussed the subject in an interview with David Marchese of The New York Times, carried out alongside The Edge as the band marks its 50th anniversary.
“I think this is a most extraordinary moment,” he said. “I think this is the greatest heist in the history of the world – stealing America.” He added: “It’s not a caper movie. It’s real and it’s happening.” According to Far Out, the remark came as he discussed the foreign aid cuts made by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the cost-cutting body led by Elon Musk. Bono, who co-founded the African health charity ONE in 2004, described those decisions as “unconscionable”.
Marchese asked whether the protest-song feel and defiant joy of U2‘s new album were a way of balancing criticism of Trump with keeping fans on side. Bono said he does not want to put off “good people who vote conservative, who vote Republican” because, in his view, “their party’s been hijacked”. “I want to invite them back,” he said. “I want them to return.” He argued that people vote conservative for all kinds of legitimate reasons. According to Consequence, he also said the band’s aim is not to find a middle ground but to pick its battles, and that discussion of the current administration should be kept apart from the debate between liberals and conservatives.
The interview comes ahead of ‘Carnaval de Luz’, U2‘s 16th album and their first set of new original songs since ‘Songs of Experience’ (2017), out on 13 November. Its 12 tracks include ‘The Mirror Maker’, featuring Rosalía, and ‘Torn’, featuring Dolly Parton, and it has been trailed by the singles ‘Street of Dreams’, ‘Silencio’ and ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’. The video for ‘Street of Dreams’, released in July, was filmed in Mexico City’s Plaza de Santo Domingo during a visit in which the band attended the 2026 Street Child World Cup. The band have also released two EPs this year: ‘Days of Ash’ in February and ‘Easter Lily’ in April.
The album gives its name to the ‘Carnaval de Luz Presents: The Greatest Show on Earth World Tour’, a stadium run that opens with two nights at Mexico City’s Estadio GNP Seguros on 23 and 26 February 2027, with Beck guesting on the first, according to U2.com. It then moves on to São Paulo’s Estádio MorumBIS on 10 and 12 March and Buenos Aires’ Estadio River Plate on 23 and 25 March. European dates, including a return to Ireland, and North American shows are yet to be announced. In a statement, the band described the tour’s title as “a dare, to ourselves as much as anyone, to try and have the best night of anybody’s life”.
U2, formed in Dublin in 1976 by Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr., mark half a century together this year. Before ‘Carnaval de Luz’, their most recent releases were ‘Songs of Surrender’ (2023), a collection of re-recorded catalogue songs, and ‘How to Re-Assemble an Atomic Bomb’ (2024), made up of tracks left off ‘How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb’ (2004).