Joe Rogan’s Friday night interview with former President Donald Trump has hit outlets nationwide, recapping how the two spoke candidly about concerns facing Americans.
Rogan recorded a nearly three-hour podcast with the 2024 Republican presidential candidate, which lasted so long that the former President arrived several hours late to a campaign rally in Michigan that evening.
Clearly, Trump thought his time was well spent sitting across from Rogan, even though the podcaster declined to have Trump on his show in 2022.
“I’ve had the opportunity to have him on my show more than once. I’ve said no every time,” said Rogan on Lex Fridman’s podcast, episode #300, July 4, 2022. “I don’t want to help him.”
Who is Joe Rogan, and why did he change his mind about interviewing Trump?
Rogan has worn many hats throughout his career. He is a podcaster, stand-up comedian, and color commentator for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Additionally, he has been a multi-time Tae Kwon Do champion, a movie actor, and the former host of the reality competition series Fear Factor.
Rogan hosts The Joe Rogan Experience, a popular podcast that has been available on Spotify since December 24, 2009. With over 2000 episodes averaging 2 to 3 hours each, it has become a hub for diverse discussions with comedians, athletes, authors, artists, and thinkers.
Recent numbers from Spotify show that The Joe Rogan Experience has 14.5 million followers. To put this in perspective, that is nearly three times more than the next highest-ranking program, TED Talks Daily. Rogan also has amassed 17.7 million YouTube subscribers.
Rogan changed his mind about interviewing Trump after the former President was shot during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024, in an attempted assassination.
“Once they shot you, I was like, ‘he’s gotta come in here,’” Rogan said to Trump.
Long-form Conversation
Rogan created the space for long-form conversation, and Trump filled up every minute. Sitting across from each other at a table covered with coffee cups, Yeti-style tumblers, and even a deer antler rack, the podcast studio had a casual, man cave vibe.
“There is probably no one in history that I’ve ever seen that’s been attacked the way you’ve been attacked,” started Rogan.
Rogan further explained that people turned on Trump once they found out “he was going to be President,” mentioning names such as Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey.
Rogan added that the turn of favor against Trump appeared to be “very coordinated, and some people are catching on to that now.” Some of those people who have caught on were once longtime Democrats like Elon Musk, noted Rogan.
Musk rallied behind Trump shortly after Trump was shot, stating on X on July 13, “I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery.”
“President Trump must win to preserve the Constitution. He must win to preserve democracy in America… This is a must-win situation,” said Musk on October 5 during his first public appearance at a Trump rally since endorsing the former President. The event was particularly significant because Trump returned to Butler, Pennsylvania, the site of an assassination attempt where he was shot by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks during a presidential rally.
Rogan and Trump continued to foster a cordial and relaxed atmosphere, offering listeners insights into Trump’s perspectives on his time in office, recent developments, public perceptions, and the challenges he continues to navigate.
“The Biggest Mistake I Made”
Trump said that despite his many successes during his term, his biggest mistake as the 45th President of the United States was “I picked a few people that I shouldn’t have picked.”
Rogan clarified with Trump that some of those picks were “neocons or bad people or disloyal people,” said Trump. As an example, Trump referred to former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, who “was a bully,” and former National Security Advisor John Bolton, who’s “a nut job.”
“You Said a lot of Wild S**t”
Rogan would go on to tell Trump that the reason why he received a lot of publicity during his presidency was that he “said a lot of wild s**t, and CNN, in all their brilliance, by highlighting your wild s**t, made you much more popular. They boosted you in the polls because people were tired of someone talking in this bulls**t, pre-prepared politician lingo. And even if they didn’t agree with you, they at least knew ‘whoever that guy is, that’s him; that’s really him,’” explained Rogan.
“When you see certain people talk in the public eye, you don’t know who they are… you have no idea who they are,” added Rogan, noting most politicians have pre-planned, rehearsed answers. “You never get to the meat of it,” said Rogan.
“One of the beautiful things about you,” Rogan said to Trump, “is that you free ball… you’re just talking.” Rogan noted that Trump also has a great sense of humor when addressing the crowds: “It’s standup; it’s funny stuff.”
“You have comedic instincts,” Rogan told Trump. “Like when you said to Hillary, ‘You’d be in jail,’ like that’s great timing,” said Rogan, noting that Trump’s comedic style and wit were “unheard of as a politician… no one had done that.”
Trump replied that despite having an authentic style, “this is a very dangerous business… very tough.”
To this, Rogan called out that Trump has had two assassination attempts that have been brushed out “of the news like it was nothing.”
“The Press is so Crooked”
Trump spoke about how crooked the press is, and Rogan agreed.
The press is “crooked, but they are also diminishing themselves. They’re killing all their credibility, and it’s opening up the credibility to new media… independent media,” said Rogan.
“The worst I’ve ever seen though…,” said Trump, “Kamala goes on 60 Minutes, gave an answer that a child wouldn’t give, it was so bad, and 60 Minutes took the answer out… and they put another answer in.”
“They edited it deceptively,” said Rogan.
“This wasn’t editing, it was fraud,” countered Trump.
Rogan wanted to show the entire clip but was told he would be subject to a copywrite strike, so he settled for saying, “It’s drastic… it’s a big deal.”
Rogan went on to discuss the presidential debate, saying, “They fact-checked you, and they didn’t fact-check her, and one of the most egregious examples of that was when [Kamala] said that… there are no troops right now deployed in war zones. There’s a very famous viral video that went online of troops in a war zone, saying, ‘Well, what the f**k are we then?’”
“I Think Everybody’s Aware of That Now”
“The morale that the police department has in a lot of these cities where they’ve done this defund the police bulls**t – the morale of these poor cops, it’s f**king horrible,” stressed Rogan. “It’s the dumbest idea of all time.”
Rogan mentioned that Kamala admitted to picking her running mate, Tim Walz, while she was sleep-deprived.
“Maybe take a nap,” said Rogan.
“If [Kamala/Walz] lose, I think they are going to look at two things,” said Trump. “They’re going to say they should have had a primary, even if it was a short primary… they shouldn’t have picked her, and then she’s going to say, ‘I shouldn’t have picked this guy.’”
“She shouldn’t have picked that guy,” Rogan agreed, speaking of Walz, noting Walz’s repeated lies.
Trump noted that people are getting wise to Kamala, adding that Kamala would defund the police, offer sex changes to individuals who wanted them in detention, gender renaming without parental consent in schools, and more, highlighting men playing in women’s sports, open borders, and human trafficking.
Trump emphasized the “waste, abuse, and fraud” in the administration.
“I think everybody’s aware of that now,” Rogan replied.