Joe Rogan has ripped into the war in Iran again, just days after President Trump fawned over him in the Oval Office.
Rogan has openly criticized the administration over the bombardment, one of a cadre of right-wing commentators to have put daylight between themselves and Trump since February.
In a bid to keep the world’s biggest podcaster and the hordes of young men that come with him on side, Trump invited Rogan to stand behind him at the Resolute Desk to watch him sign an executive order expediting an FDA review for psychedelic drug treatment, a practice Rogan has supported.
But that wasn’t enough to stop the 58-year-old, who has an average of 11 million listeners per episode, from speaking his mind about Trump. Venting on his show, The Joe Rogan Experience, the podcaster slammed what is likely to be Trump’s defining foreign policy, less than a week after being welcomed into the Oval Office.
“People have wanted [the Supreme Leader and the ruling Islamic Republic] out of Iran… for 47 years,” Rogan said on Thursday’s episode. “But no one has actually gone and done it the way this administration did it, and it doesn’t make sense they chose to do it when they did it. Like what made sense was… when they dropped that bunker buster bomb to disable their nuclear plant.”
Rogan was referring to Operation Midnight Hammer, which saw U.S. bombers carry out targeted strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, supposedly striking a major blow to its missile-grade aspirations.
A few minutes later, Rogan mused with his guest, Australian comedian James McCann, about the initial trigger that led the U.S. to launch a large-scale attack on February 28. “But, you know, why did we do it? I don’t know. I think because of Israel, if I had to guess,” he said. “[It’s] the only thing that makes sense. Then [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu kept visiting the White House. You think it’s a coincidence? Netanyahu keeps visiting the White House. And then eventually they decide to give in and start bombing.
“And also, you, you got to wonder, like, how do you get out of this, and then what does the exit look like? Do we have troops over there forever now? Do we subsidize them if we blow up their, their power grid.”
Several right-wing podcasters, including Megyn Kelly, Tucker Carlson, Alex Jones, and Theo Von, have now split with Trump, saying his warmongering ambitions clash with the America First principles that they and their followers fell for.
Rogan, the most influential of them all, may have broken with the president to a lesser degree, but still said on an episode last month that the war in Iran is “terrifying” and “exactly the opposite of what we were told leading into this administration.”
Meanwhile, on an episode of his show with fellow MAGA exile Von, the pair used the word “scared” or variations of it over 30 times.
When Von said, “I’m scared, I’m going to be honest with you. I’m scared,” Rogan replied, “Well, you should be. It’s a scary time because this is a real, hot war.”
Rogan said during Saturday’s visit to Washington, D.C., that he’d texted Trump about the drug ibogaine and its potential to treat people with mental illness.
He said Trump soon texted him back, saying, “Sounds great. Do you want FDA approval? Let’s do it.”
During the photo opp, Rogan stood directly behind Trump. The president appeared to acknowledge the rift that had emerged between them since their halcyon days of 2024, saying, “We all respect Joe. He’s a little bit more liberal than I am.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
