Elton John performs during the 2025 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, at L.A. Live in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Sir Elton John has caused something of a stir with comments he made during a new interview with Variety.

The music icon recently sat down with the entertainment outlet to discuss his work with the Elton John AIDS Foundation, a charity he co-founded in the early 1990s which has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to support HIV and AIDS-related organisations globally.

Early on in the conversation, Sir Elton voiced his frustrations with the current state of HIV/AIDS research, which he said he is “enraged by”.

“You know, there’s a big war that’s being settled, hopefully,” the Candle In The Wind singer claimed. “But there’s another war. with people who are suffering from HIV and AIDS that should be able to get their medicine but can’t, because governments won’t let them. It’s inhumane.

“So my big beef at the moment is, yes, thank God, maybe there’s peace, after more things are sorted out. But there are crimes against millions of other people that are happening because of governments and stigma and hate.

“It’s so frustrating when you have the medicine, you have prep, you have the antiretrovirals. We can stop the spread of AIDS, if people just got off their backsides and treated human beings in a Christian kind of way.”

However, it was his remarks invoking US leader Donald Trump that have captured many people’s attention.

Donald Trump

During the interview, Sir Elton said: “President Trump has maybe solved the peace problem. If he wants to go down as one of the greatest presidents in history … if he ended AIDS, that would really be a feather in his cap.”

Many have already taken issue with Sir Elton’s comments, pointing out that the Trump administration was restricted funds towards HIV and AIDS research, while others also called into question his suggestion that “ending AIDS” could help Trump be considered “one of the greatest presidents in history”.

Does Elton John not know Trump eliminated a $258 million HIV vaccine medical research........

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