Joe Rogan is calling out President Trump for starting the war in Iran to shift focus away from his controversies back home.
“One thing, in the past, that leaders have used to cover up problems at home is a f---ing war,” Rogan, 58, told fellow MAGA podcaster Theo Von on Thursday’s Joe Rogan Experience. “I’m not saying that’s why they bombed Iran, but that would be a way to do it.”
“I’m confused. I can’t believe we went to this war. When we started bombing Iran, I was like this can’t be true,” Rogan said. “Supposedly, they’re trying to stop the terrorists.”
“That’s crazy though, if you’re the f---ing terrorists. If you wanna stop them, stand in front of the f---ing mirror and start there,” Von, 46, responded.
Rogan and Von are part of a cohort of MAGA-coded podcast bros widely credited with helping elect Trump, 79, for a second term. The president’s war in Iran, however, is turning his most loyal faction against him.
“If you’re that psychotic, and if you’re thinking about doing it anyway, you might be able to justify it,” Rogan continued. “People have always done that, also, to stay in power.”
“It’s a scary time because people are willing to blow people up with f---ing drones and missiles. And they’re shooting into apartment buildings and blowing up schools, and it’s like, f--- man,” the conservative podcaster added. “The idea that the only way to solve problems is by dropping bombs on people is—it’s so crazy that that’s the move in 2026.″
“F--- oil. I’d rather walk if this is the s--t that’s going to come out of it,” Von joked.
The Daily Beast reached out to the Trump White House for comment.
The controversy Rogan is referring to, of course, is the Epstein files, in which Trump’s name appears more than 38,000 times.
While the Justice Department has released over 3.5 million files from its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell is the only other individual to be imprisoned for crimes relating to the sex-trafficking operation.
“Everybody just feels scared, and it makes things scary,” Von said, who noted that the files have essentially “disappeared” due to media coverage of the war.
“Well, they should, because a lot of things are getting exposed right now,” Rogan agreed, who has previously accused the president of “gaslighting” the public over the Epstein files.
“There’s a lot of fraud, and you’re seeing it at the highest levels of government. People are also scared because no one’s getting in trouble for things, like no one’s getting in trouble for the Epstein files,” he added.
Trump has also drawn criticism from Rogan over his immigration crackdown that has separated thousands of families and led to the murder of two U.S. citizens by immigration officers. Rogan claimed that Trump’s ICE deployment, which he likened to the “Gestapo,” has also been a distraction from Epstein.
“I think some of that’s on purpose,” Rogan whispered into the mic in response to his guest’s mention that the Epstein Files’ release had slowed during times of increased ICE media coverage.
On Wednesday, Trump held a prime-time news conference to directly update the nation on the war in Iran. His speech, however, offered little in the way of clarity in the war he claimed was “nearing completion.”
The next morning, he fired Attorney General Pam Bondi, who will also face congressional grilling over her alleged attempts to protect Trump’s role in the Epstein scandal.
