Bono has launched an incendiary musical broadside at Donald Trump’s brutal immigration policies – and allies of the president are now warning U2 could be barred from touring the United States in retaliation for what insiders have told RadarOnline.com was a direct attack on ICE in the band’s new EP, Days of Ash.
The six-track record, released on Ash Wednesday, is billed by the Irish rock group as “postcards from the present” and calls out global flashpoints including Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, violence in Israel and Palestine, repression in Iran, and the killing of a protester in Minneapolis as part of the ICE crackdowns.
Bono launched a musical broadside against current U.S. immigration policies during the band’s latest release.
But it is the blistering opener, American Obituary, written after 37-year-old mother-of-three Renee Nicole Macklin Good was shot by an ICE agent, that has ignited a political firestorm in Washington.
Sources close to the administration said Trump, 79, is “furious” at what he views as foreign musicians meddling in U.S. policy.
A senior Republican strategist told us, “The president believes ICE agents are patriots. If U2 want to smear federal law enforcement in song, they shouldn’t be surprised if their ability to tour here comes under review.”
‘That’s Kind of Our Job!’
Allies warned Trump could bar U2 from touring the United States as retaliation.
Another source added: “There is serious talk that Trump could bar U2 from touring in America as revenge for the criticism in song of his ICE policies. Visas, permits – those things are not automatic anymore.”
Bono, 65, speaking ahead of the release of U2’s new record, acknowledged the band expected backlash.
He said: “All the songs on Days of Ash are of the moment we wish we weren’t in… but are. They are songs of defiance and dismay, of lamentation.”
The frontman added: “The songs being presented here are all reactions to present-day anxieties – some knee-jerk, some more considered, all likely to offend or annoy some parties, but that’s kind of our job!”
U2 Insists Intervention Is Rooted in Love for America
Bono wrote the blistering opening track, ‘American Obituary,’ as a response to a fatal shooting by an ICE agent.
The iconic singer insisted U2’s history justifies their intervention.
“U2’s been banging on about America for most of our artistic life,” he explained. “This is a country we love and has loved us back.”
But he described American Obituary as “a song of fury and, more than that, a song of grief.” He added it was not just for Renee but “for the death of an America that would have had an inquiry into her killing.”
In the same interview, Bono reflected on the volatile political climate.
He said: “We’d like to think this (Days of Ash) EP is at war with the reasons people end up at any front line. We all (in the band) bring what we’ve got, and these five songs and a poem are what we’ve got right now. One can never write a song to do justice to lives like these, but you can try.”
The Edge issued a pointed statement regarding the importance of human dignity and borders.
U2’s guitarist The Edge, 64, also issued a pointed statement about the state of the world. He said: “We believe in a world where borders are not erased by force. Where culture, language, and memory are not silenced by fear. Where the dignity of a people is not negotiable.”
The band’s bassist Adam Clayton, 65, described the themes of the group’s new release as rooted in “tolerance, freedom and choosing not to jump to judgment,” while drummer Larry Mullen Jr, 64, admitted: “We’ve never shied away from taking a position and sometimes that can get a bit messy – there’s always some sort of blowback.”
But Trump administration insiders say blowback could now extend beyond social media outrage.
One adviser said, “If they want to campaign against American law enforcement, they can do it from Dublin. The president has options.”
