President Donald Trump is said to be desperate for Joe Rogan not to give up on their faltering bromance after the right-wing podcaster turned on him over Iran.
The president’s aides are “working aggressively behind the scenes” to repair Trump’s relationship with Rogan, who propelled the president back into office but has increasingly emerged as a staunch critic of the second MAGA administration, Axios reports.
Those overtures appear to be gaining some traction after the UFC commentator put in an appearance at the Oval Office Saturday, when Trump signed an executive order accelerating a Food and Drug Administration review on the use of psychedelic drugs as treatment for mental illness.
“The White House had been working to build bridges to Rogan for months,” the outlet writes. “Trump is ‘frequently’ in touch with the podcaster, according to a Trump aide.”
Rogan, who backed Trump in 2024 and whose immense following among the young male podcast audience is widely thought to have helped the president secure victory at that year’s polls, has not held back from criticizing the president in recent months.
The podcaster slammed the Trump administration for its hardline immigration crackdown, particularly in the wake of the fatal shooting of two American citizens in Minnesota earlier this year.
He has also blasted the president for violating his campaign pledges of no more foreign military interventions, following Trump’s lightning invasion of Venezuela in January and his ongoing war with Iran.
“Most people that voted for Trump or wanted Trump to be in office, one of the things that was attractive was this—no more wars,” Rogan said on his podcast last week. “Now we’re in one of the craziest ones.”
He even went as far as to say he felt “politically homeless” earlier this month.
Trump’s Saturday executive order represents a presidential intervention on an issue close to Rogan’s heart.
The podcaster has repeatedly touted the potential of psychedelic drugs, in particular ibogaine, to treat serious mental illnesses like substance dependence.
Trump’s order includes a $50 million designation for research into that specific drug, which has been linked to dangerous heart rhythm abnormalities and serious side effects like prolonged and intense psychoactive experiences.
Rogan and Trump’s relationship may have suffered setbacks since the president assumed the White House for the second time, but the podcaster continues to maintain warm ties with members of Trump’s cabinet.
He met with JD Vance during the vice-president’s fundraising event in Austin last month, and hosted Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on his show earlier in February.
The podcaster also exchanged greetings with the president at a UFC match in Florida two weeks ago, and is widely expected to act as commentator at the White House’s UFC Freedom 250 event later in June, set to mark both Trump and the nation’s birthday.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment on this story.
