The way Joe Rogan tells it, about all President Donald Trump needed before he fast-tracked research into therapeutic uses for certain psychedelic treatments like Ibogaine was a text from the podcaster.
“The text message came back, ‘Sounds great! Do you want FDA approval? Let’s do it!’” Rogan said while standing directly behind Trump at an Oval Office signing ceremony on Saturday. “It was literally that quick.”
The anecdote was seemingly meant to show how anxious Trump is to help people. But it also reflected an increasingly fascinating power dynamic between Trump and Rogan.
Rogan’s surprise visit happened to come after he has made a number of high-profile comments critical of Trump’s handling of the Iran war to Rogan’s massive podcast audience.
And while Trump has savaged other allies who offered similar criticisms – people like Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens and Alex Jones – he’s taking a very different tack with Rogan.
It’s a much more solicitous one. While others get the vinegar, Rogan is for some reason getting the sugar.
Rogan’s commentary on the Iran war has been routinely brutal for Trump.
Last month, he called the war “insane based on what he ran on” – specifically, ending wars – and said the war was “why a lot of people feel betrayed” by Trump.
“I can’t believe we went to this war,” he said on another podcast with Theo Von earlier this month.
And just this Thursday, Rogan called the war “f**king terrifying.”
“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. “Now we’re in one of the craziest ones.”
The same day Rogan made those comments, news broke that Trump would sign off on one of Rogan’s big initiatives. (Though it bears emphasizing it’s hardly just Rogan pushing this; it’s also former Republican Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.) Two days later, Rogan was a surprise guest in the Oval Office.
And Rogan wasn’t the only one gesturing at the interesting power dynamics.
At the event, Trump seemed to make a point to refer to Rogan’s audience.
“We did a little interview before the election,” Trump said, referring to his appearance on Rogan’s show in October 2024, shortly before Rogan endorsed him on the eve of the election. “We had over 300 million people, and I said, ‘Oh man, I hope Kamala doesn’t do it.’ And she didn’t.”
Trump also called Rogan “a fantastic person,” despite Rogan’s comments on the Iran war.
US media personality Joe Rogan stands for a benediction after President Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th US President in the US Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025. – Saul Loeb/Pool/Reuters
So how to read this?
One way is that it shows Trump has at least some fear of losing his base over the Iran war. And that would make sense, given there’s a bevy of polling suggesting he should fear such a thing.
While self-described MAGA supporters say they approve of the war, as many as 1 in 5 or even 1 in 4 of Trump’s 2024 voters do not, and many of the rest are only lukewarm on it. A significant chunk of Trump’s voters seem to have at least some buyer’s remorse right now.
Perhaps it’s starting to register for Trump that this is a problem as the midterm elections loom.
But a non-mutually exclusive explanation is that he just sees something different in Rogan than he does in the likes of Kelly and Carlson.
After all, he’s regularly treated Rogan with kid gloves even after other major criticisms.
Trump also fondly recalled his 2024 Rogan interview while speaking with podcaster Logan Paul last month, just a day after Rogan’s first big, harsh Iran war criticisms.
And when NBC News in early February asked Trump directly about Rogan’s criticisms of Trump’s deportation efforts, Trump opted to try and smooth things over rather than lash out.
“I think he’s a great guy, and I think he likes me, too,” Trump said.
Trump then added: “And, you know, liking me isn’t important.”
That’s a laughable comment. Trump has regularly acknowledged how much his view of people hinges on whether they like him.
But when it comes to taking the next step and offering him loyalty, he tends to demand it more from people he thinks should be loyal to him. And in that way, Rogan might be different from others like Kelly and Carlson, who are much more steeped in the conservative movement. Rogan comes from a much more of an apolitical world.
On Saturday in the Oval Office, Trump referred to Rogan as “a little bit more liberal than I am.”
It’s also for that reason that Rogan’s criticisms present a particularly problematic development for Trump. His audience is more apolitical than the likes of Kelly and Carlson. They’re the kind of people Trump only recently brought into his coalition – with Rogan’s help – and therefore Trump might fear they’re more apt to leave.
You can begin to see why Trump might be a little afraid of Rogan – and why he might feel compelled to do him a favor or two.
But it’s still remarkable that Trump, of all people, actually feels like he needs to cater to someone in this way.
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