Headshots of Trump and Rogan in front of microphones on a red background

Molly Butler // Media Matters

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Joe Rogan has mixed feelings on Trump after endorsing him in 2024

The popular podcaster has slammed Trump's ICE operations as “horrific” and mocked his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case, but Rogan also painted the president as a victim of “the deep state”

Written by Noah Dowe

Published

Podcaster Joe Rogan, who endorsed President Donald Trump following their interview just before the 2024 election, has voiced disapproval with the administration on a number of high-profile political issues over the last year.

While Rogan still regularly pushes pro-Trump messaging and defends Trump and some of his policies — attacking the “No Kings” protests, praising him for “conflicts that he stopped,” supporting the shuttering of USAID, and suggesting the “deep state” was “conspiring to take him out” — his large audience has been repeatedly exposed to harsh critiques of the administration.

These include what Rogan has described as “horrific” and “heartless” immigration policies, the administration’s “political theater” in handling the Jeffrey Epstein case, and Trump’s failure to provide “any evidence” the 2020 election was stolen.

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  • Rogan endorsed Trump on the eve of the 2024 election on his popular podcast, and Trump aides and allies reportedly see him as a valuable asset

    • According to data from Spotify and Podscribe, The Joe Rogan Experience is one of the most listened to and downloaded podcasts globally. [Podscribe, accessed 12/9/25; Spotify, accessed 12/9/25]
    • Rogan endorsed Trump on the eve of the 2024 election, shortly after interviewing him. Though Trump embraced the endorsement, he had notably attacked Rogan just months prior over the podcaster’s public support of then-presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., posting on his Truth Social platform, “It will be interesting to see how loudly Joe Rogan gets BOOED the next time he enters the UFC Ring.” [The New York Times, 11/4/24]
    • In remarks given at Trump’s post-election celebration, UFC President Dana White thanked a number of podcasters, including “the mighty and powerful Joe Rogan.” Rogan also attended Trump’s inauguration in January. [Newsweek, 11/6/24, 1/22/25]
    • The Daily Beast reported in August that Trump aides “floated a press conference or a podcast appearance with Rogan” in order to combat “lingering fallout from the Jeffrey Epstein crisis.” [The Daily Beast, 8/6/25]

  • Since the election, Rogan has broken with Trump and his administration on a variety of issues

  • Immigration


    Rogan has repeatedly expressed concern and discomfort at the “insane” way that migrants have been targeted by the administration, saying he doesn’t “think anybody would have signed up for” Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids on Home Depots and construction sites. Rogan has argued the subsequent arrests of migrant workers and removal to countries where they have “never been” or “haven’t been since they were 4” “shows no heart,” adding, “I really thought they were just going to go after the criminals.”

    • Rogan said the administration’s deportation of makeup artist Andry José Hernández Romero to El Salvador was “horrific,” adding, “You gotta get scared that people who are not criminals are getting, like, lassoed up and deported.” Rogan continued, “Let's not — innocent gay hairdressers get lumped up with the gangs, and then, like, how long before that guy can get out? … Is there any plan in place to alert the authorities that they've made a horrible mistake and correct it?” [The Guardian, 8/4/25; YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 3/29/25]
    • Rogan decried “fucking nuts” ICE raids on Home Depots and construction sites, saying, “I don't think anybody would have signed up for that.” Rogan: “They said, we're gonna get rid of the criminals and the gang members first, right? And now we're, we're seeing, like, Home Depots get raided. Like, that's crazy.” [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 6/18/25]
    • Rogan called Trump's targeting of migrant workers for deportation “insane.” “There's two things that are insane,” Rogan explained, “One is the targeting of migrant workers. Not cartel members, not gang members, not drug dealers. Just construction workers. Showing up at construction sites, raiding them. Gardeners. Like, really?” [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 7/2/25]
    • Rogan reportedly “pushed Trump to back off on mass deportations” at a private dinner in June. According to The Washington Post, “Rogan has discussed immigration policy with Trump and pushed him to back off deporting workers who have not committed crimes, according to a person with knowledge of their conversations.” [The Washington Post, 7/10/25]
    • Rogan again criticized the administration for “this insane policy where they're going to Home Depot and rounding people up,” as well as “kicking students out that, like, write articles they don’t like.” Rogan said, “You got a bunch of people that are totally innocent. They're gonna get caught up, and they have been. … A lot of people that have green cards. A lot of people that are supposed to be over here.” [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 7/29/25]
    • Rogan decried the policy of “pulling people out of schools and pulling people out of Home Depot,” adding that “they didn't think, great, you're gonna get rid of a landscaper.” Rogan argued, “That's what freaks people out, because what people, when people thought about ICE, they thought, 'great, we're going to get rid of the gang members.’” [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 8/13/25]
    • Rogan later said Trump’s policy of sending people back to “a country where they’ve never been” or “haven’t been since they were 4” “shows no heart,” adding, “I really thought they were just going to go after the criminals.” Rogan suggested it was “crazy to ask lower-income and middle-income people who are, you know, kind of getting by, and then all of sudden, you're about to ship them to a country where they've never been. They haven't been since they were 4. And you're going to pull up their family.” [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 10/9/25]
    • Rogan says Trump's deportation policies are “scary” for Mexican immigrants and bad for the administration: “This is the worst look ever.” [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 10/18/25]
    • Rogan again decried “ICE raids where, you know, they're taking people that are American citizens and they're scaring the shit out of everybody.” While talking with guest and fellow podcaster Theo Von, who criticized the Department of Homeland Security for using a video of him without permission to promote their mass deportation efforts, Rogan said, “If a company did that, you could sue them.” [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 11/18/25; NBC, 9/24/25] 
    • Rogan criticized ICE’s use of “quotas” for deportation, saying, “They go to whatever's easiest pickings so they can get numbers up.” He then recounted a previous guest’s story about a man who was “brought over here when he was a baby” and “lived here for 20 years, can’t speak Spanish. They deport him. Send him to Tijuana. ... Now he has to live in Mexico, he doesn't know what the fuck to do.” [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 12/30/25] 
    • Rogan argued there was a “balance to be achieved” in immigration enforcement, saying he can “see the point of view of the people” who “don't want militarized people in the streets just roaming around snatching people up.” While Rogan suggested migration has done “damage” to “a true democratic system,” he added, “I can also see the point of view of the people that say, ‘Yeah, but you don't want militarized people in the streets just roaming around snatching people up, many of which turn out to actually be U.S. citizens that just don't have their papers on them. Are we really going to be the the Gestapo?'” [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 1/13/26]

  • Jeffrey Epstein


    Rogan has mocked the administration’s handling of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s case and the “Epstein files,” slamming their “political theater” and questioning if they “think we’re babies.” Since interviewing FBI Director Kash Patel in June, Rogan has been especially critical of him and other Trump officials, saying, “The guy's saying there's no tapes, there's no video. That doesn't make any sense. Everyone knows it doesn't make any sense.”

    • Rogan criticized the administration’s handling of the case, saying, “They’ve got videotape and then all of a sudden they don’t, you know. … Why would they say there was thousands of hours of tapes of people doing horrible shit?” Recounting his June interview with FBI Director Kash Patel, Rogan said, “You had the director of the FBI on this show saying there's no — if there was, nothing you're looking for is on those tapes. Like, what?” [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 7/15/25]
    • While interviewing Democratic Texas state Rep. James Talarico, Rogan said people are cynical about the administration because “you haven’t heard a fucking peep” about Epstein, noting that recently resigned FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino was “shouting from the rooftops” about the case prior to the election. Rogan explained, “Kash came on the podcast and said there's no, there’s nothing that you want to see. You know? He's got -- Dan Bongino who's always, like, shouting from the rooftops. We're gonna get to the bottom of this and find out who these people are. Everyone's saying, no. No. Epstein killed himself. No. Nothing to see here. And it's like, OK. Well, that's why people are cynical.” [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 7/18/25]
    • Rogan attacked the administration over their release of a video from outside Epstein’s cell, saying, “The film has a fucking minute missing from it. Like, do you think we're babies?” He added, “Kash Patel ... the guy's saying there's no tapes, there's no video. That doesn't make any sense. Everyone knows it doesn't make any sense.” [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 7/25/25]
    • When guest Bryan Callen suggested evidence of people implicated in Epstein’s crimes no longer exists, Rogan countered: “Why did they parade around with these binders? ... What kind of political theater is that if you don't really have the Epstein files, like what is that?” Rogan continued, “But then they’re saying now that there are no files. They’re saying there’s no video.” [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 10/15/25] 
    • Rogan mocked Trump’s sudden change of heart on releasing the files, saying, “I heard there’s no files. I heard it’s a hoax. And then all of a sudden he’s going to release the files.” He continued, “I thought there was no files. He wants an investigation now! Like, what is going on?” [PBS, 11/20/25; The Independent, 11/19/25]

  • Foreign policy


    Rogan has repeatedly lambasted the administration over its foreign policy. He criticized Trump and his team over “Signalgate” and Trump’s attempts to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and has argued that a military escalation with Venezuela would be a “terrible idea.”

    • Rogan criticized the Trump administration over “Signalgate,” saying, “You can't have that happen when you're fucking planning bombs.” Rogan also said the scandal was “not at all” the fault of Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg, who was accidentally added to the Signal chat, asking, “What’s he supposed to do?” [The Atlantic, 12/3/25; YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 3/29/25] 
    • Rogan mocked Trump for flying B-2 bombers over Putin during their Alaska summit, “Look at my dick, my flying dick. ... Like, what are we doing?” Rogan added, “Why are we flying the radar-resistant bomber over Putin’s head?” [ABC, 8/15/25; YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 8/19/25]
    • Rogan criticized Trump's statements on how he'd handle Ukraine and Russia: “I think Trump grossly underestimated the amount of work that it’s gonna take to stop this.” He continued, “The thing is, like, Putin is very smart. He’s not gonna, you know, he’s gonna play. He’s like, gonna cat and mouse this. Like, you can't just say I’m gonna be able to do a deal with Putin because I’m the alpha.” [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 9/23/25] 
    • Rogan called the continuation of the Ukraine-Russia war “a big failure of the promises of the Trump administration.” “Trump famously said that he would get it done in 24 hours,” Rogan explained, “You can't get it done at all.” [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 11/13/25] 
    • Rogan said U.S. military escalation against Venezuela would be a “terrible idea,” adding, “I don’t think anybody’s going to really support that at all.” [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 12/25/25]
    • Rogan said he was skeptical of the administration's strikes on boats from Venezuela supposedly carrying drugs, saying, “They're so far away from us. They're in small boats. And they're not bringing those drugs to the United States.” [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 1/13/26] 

  • Other issues


    Rogan has been critical of Trump on a number of other issues, including his family’s cryptocurrency, his administration’s tendency to jump to “pointing fingers,” and the president’s lack of “any evidence” for his claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

    • Rogan said the arrest of Tufts graduate student and pro-Palestinian activist Rumeysa Ozturk was “scary shit … especially if it’s just protesting.” [The Guardian, 3/27/25; YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 3/29/25]
    • Rogan: “I don't like the Trump coin. I think that's fucking crazy.” [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 9/9/25; PBS, 11/20/25]
    • Rogan referred to the Trump administration enlisting data firm Palantir to gather the “personal data of each American” as “kind of creepy.” He then asked, “Who signed off on this?” [The New York Times, 5/30/25; YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 9/9/25]
    • Rogan said “one of the problems” with the administration is “that they're really good at, like, pointing fingers at the other side and polarizing, and really bad at uniting us all.” [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 9/30/25]
    • Rogan said he doesn’t think Trump has “any evidence” the 2020 election was stolen. Referencing a question about the 2020 election he asked to Trump during the interview, he suggested Trump should have had a better response: “After four years I'd have a f***ing tight 10 minutes on the election where I could just rattle off at you and rock your world with it.” [The Independent, 8/27/25]
    • Rogan again criticized Trump’s 2020 election claims, saying, “If I ran for president and I told you, dude, they stole the election, and you're like, how? I would have an answer. ... No one has an answer.” [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 11/11/25]
    • Referring to Trump’s social media posts attacking film director Rob Reiner after his killing, Rogan said, “There’s no justification for what he did that makes any sense in a compassionate society.” [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 12/25/25]
    • Rogan said of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel's suspension: “I definitely don't think that the government should be involved, ever, in dictating what a comedian can or cannot say in a monologue. That's fucking crazy.” [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 9/23/25]
    • Rogan said “the thing between Kimmel and Trump” is “so dumb” and his attempt to go after fellow late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers is “crazy.” “I guess no one is around to tell him that,” Rogan quipped. [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 11/12/25]
    • Rogan said “one of the more disappointing things about this administration” was receiving “very little new information” on John F. Kennedy’s assassination. [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 10/10/25]
    • Rogan argued there was “nothing nuttier” than Trump’s addition of plaques written to insult past presidents to the White House “Presidential Walk of Fame.” He added, “How are you allowed to do that? … It should be like a museum.” [The Daily Beast, 12/23/25] 

  • Despite these critiques, Rogan has continued to speak favorably about Trump and some aspects of his agenda

  • Rogan has nevertheless praised and/or defended Trump and a number of his administration’s controversial moves, including his threats to annex Canada, the redecoration of the White House, and the shuttering of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Rogan has also lashed out at Democrats and the media for their treatment of the president, mocking “No Kings” protesters, decrying the “Russiagate collusion hoax,” and alleging Trump was targeted by “lawfare” and “the deep state.”

    • After one of his guests alluded to Trump’s threats to annex Canada, Rogan said, “Bro, it’s fucking genius. Trudeau resigned,” referring to former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Rogan continued, “But he’s not even in office yet, and the whole world is, like, shifting. … Look at Facebook. Look at Zuckerberg.” [BBC, 2/7/25; YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 1/14/25]
    • Rogan called Trump “eerily accurate” in his pushback to claims that climate change is responsible for wildfires. He said, “So these climate change kooks, these left-wing kooks that want to put everything into these, like, very binary categories. Like, 'This is because the Republicans refused to agree to climate change and call climate change as a hoax. This is a climate change.' No, this is LA. This is the climate in LA.” [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 1/23/25]
    • Rogan initially praised Trump’s ICE operations, saying, “They’ve already found thousands of criminals that had snuck in here and had committed multiple crimes while they were here.” He added, “And Trump's just yanking them out. … Get the fuck out of here. And exporting them in planes. The Biden administration could have done this too.” [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 1/31/25] 
    • Rogan asked his audience to “think about what [Trump] went through” while “the entire media, the entire justice system,” “the deep state,” and “the Central Intelligence Agency” were “conspiring to take him out.” [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 1/16/25]
    • Rogan said while discussing prosecution of Trump: “The lawfare is very un-American. It’s a very un-American thing to do to unjustly accuse someone of crimes and use your position of power to try to arrest that person and jail that person. … You’re kind of committing treason.” [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 3/11/25]
    • Rogan suggested the “narratives” around deported Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia were “just designed to make the Trump administration look like monsters.” Rogan did note that “there was that gay hairdresser that, like, seems like he just got roped up.” [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 4/30/25]
    • Rogan argued Democrats “immediately went after Trump” after he lost in 2020 with criminal charges that “didn’t make any sense.” He then suggested Trump was “such an easy guy to turn into a Nazi” that Democrats use him as an excuse to “rig” primary elections. [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 8/1/25]
    • Rogan defended the shuttering of USAID, asking those who think “people are gonna starve” if they are “sure that this isn’t just a giant money-sucking scam that’s been going on that does some good.” [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 8/26/25]
    • Rogan called Trump a “nut” but suggested “you have to be a kind of nut” because “they tried to put him in jail they tried to make a fake Russia collusion thing.” [Newsweek, 10/18/25]
    • Rogan complained “they didn’t want Trump to get credit” for organizing a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, adding, “No one's given [Trump] any credit for all the other conflicts that he stopped as well.” [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 10/22/25]
    • Discussing the “No Kings” protests in October, Rogan mocked those who attended, saying, “He let them protest, which is also what a king does. Like no, no, he didn't send the troops to stop the protest.” He continued, “He ran on a platform and was elected and won every swing state and the popular vote. And then once he got in, he did exactly what he said he was going to do, which is … makes you king.” [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 10/22/25] 
    • Rogan praised Trump for negotiating “peace settlements with many African countries that have been at war for decades,” though he admitted “the cryptocoin’s sketchy as fuck.” “Like, he’s not profiting from making sure these people don’t kill each other,” Rogan added, arguing, “Like legitimately, there’s some part of him that you have to admit doesn’t want people to die.” [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 11/11/25]
    • Rogan defended Trump for redecorating the White House with gold, saying, “He likes gold. What’s wrong with gold? … It looks beautiful.” [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 11/12/25]
    • Rogan decried the “Russiagate collusion hoax that they perpetrated on mainstream media for years” and said those implicated are “super sketched out about Trump being president again and possibly digging into that stuff, and he's doing that now.” Rogan led into the topic by defending Trump’s comments suggesting there were “very fine people” at the 2017 white nationalist Unite the Right rally. [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 11/12/25; Media Matters, 8/17/20]