Pop icon Madonna has launched a scathing attack on U.S. President Donald Trump after his administration reportedly instructed government employees and agencies not to acknowledge World AIDS Day this year—a move that has sparked outrage among public health advocates, activists, and millions affected by the HIV/AIDS crisis.
In a statement posted on her social media, Madonna accused Trump of attempting to erase a day that has, for decades, served as a global reminder of lives lost, progress made, and the work still needed to end the HIV epidemic.
“I bet he’s never watched his best friend die of AIDS, held their hand, and watched the blood drain from their face as they took their last breath,” she wrote, expressing deep personal frustration at what she called a cold and insensitive directive.
“It’s one thing to order federal agents to refrain from commemorating this day, but to ask the general public to pretend it never happened is ridiculous. It’s absurd. It’s unthinkable,” she said.
Madonna, whose own life and career have been intertwined with the history of the AIDS crisis, reflected on the friends she has lost, including Martin Borgoyne, her former roommate and tour manager, who died of AIDS in 1986 at just 23 years old.
“For four decades, this day has been internationally recognised because millions of people’s lives have been touched by the HIV crisis,” she wrote. “People have lost lovers, husbands and wives, girlfriends and boyfriends, mothers and daughters, and children to this deadly disease, for which there is still no cure.”
She urged her followers not to abandon the tradition of remembrance.
“I’m sure many of you out there can relate. Let me say it one more time, there still isn’t a cure for AIDS, and people still die from it. I refuse to acknowledge that these people have died in vain. I will continue to honour World AIDS Day, and I hope you will honour it with me.” she wrote.
Her remarks come weeks after public health expert Emily Bass revealed a leaked State Department email instructing personnel not to use government platforms to promote World AIDS Day.
The memo reportedly indicated that the move was part of a broader policy “to refrain from messaging on any commemorative day.”
World AIDS Day, first observed globally in 1988, has long united governments, organisations, activists, and communities in remembrance and awareness. But according to Madonna, Trump’s order, which reportedly extended beyond federal agencies to discourage public acknowledgement of the day, crosses a line.