Why Bono Rejected Working With Donald Trump

U2 singer Bono explained why he hasn’t tried to work with Donald Trump’s administration, despite having been active at the presidential level in the past and having been invited to talks.

The singer built a reputation as a political activist in the ‘90s, becoming involved in movements including the AIDS battle, support for Africa, and human rights in his native Ireland and elsewhere.

“There’s a permission you need to feel to do a certain task,” Bono told The Guardian in a new interview. “You feel it spiritually. You feel like: ‘I think I might be able to help here.’”

READ MORE: The Day U2 Had Their First Band Rehearsal

He continued: “I have been invited, but I know I’m not up to that – I don’t have the ability to negotiate [with them]. It’s too much.”

He added that he lacked “a plan, a strategy for successful action, a particular original idea I could get past them.” Therefore, he concluded: “Maybe just leave that to someone else. I don’t feel the leading, is that the word? That thing where you think you know what to do.”

Drummer Larry Mullen said the dismantling of U2’s earlier work had contributed to it. “When money was taken away from AIDS, from people in Africa, I think, to be honest, you were in a state of complete shock and dismay at what you were seeing.

Bono Believes Current Political Climate Needs ‘Different Response’

“These things take enormous amounts of time and energy, and you can’t do everything. You can only do a certain amount.”

Asked if he felt the current administration was different from previous ones, including right-wing governments, Bono replied: “Yes, I do. It’s a new world. This is different. There’s a whiff, there’s a honk, and we’re all just trying to discern it.

“There’s a brand new dance, and we do know its name," he concluded. "It’s a little … fascistic. And it needs a different response.”

U2’s new album Carnaval de Luz is released on Nov. 13.