Top 10 Moments from Joe Rogan's Interview With Trump

The 2024 election cycle has, for lack of a better term, been an extremely wild ride. In an unprecedented sequence of events that found an incumbent president dropping out after the primaries, somehow the fact that a member of the Kennedy family was running for office took a backseat. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., son of the attorney general and New York senator, initially ran as a Democrat, before switching to an independent run, and then dropping out of the race entirely and endorsing Trump. Trump said that Kennedy would be guaranteed a spot to have carte blanche in his administration — despite their clashing views on environmentalism.

As noted by the BBC, former president Trump has been scrutinized by Democrats for his apparent refusal to release his health records — Vice President Kamala Harris has done so, and her records declare her fit for the presidency. While Trump didn’t address calls to release the aforementioned records on “Rogan,” he claimed that, during a physical examination undertaken at an unspecified date, even his doctor was surprised by Trump’s level of physical fitness. This is especially interesting given Trump’s consistent claims that he does not exercise — the former president insisted that golf is enough movement for him when talking to Rogan.

At the podcast’s outset, Rogan inquired as to how deciding to run for office had negatively impacted public perception of Trump — as well as his treatment by his fellow Hollywood celebrities. They both claimed that the hosts of “The View” and Oprah had initially held highly favorable opinions of him before polling indicated that Trump had a real shot at the presidency. This led to Trump breaking down the conditions that found him departing the show for politics. Praising executive producer Mark Burnett, Trump explained that opinion polling around the time of the 2012 presidential election had first caused him to seriously consider realizing his long-held political aspirations.

The former president has never been shy when it comes to slagging his perceived enemies and “haters.” When Trump ascended to the presidency, the caliber of his foes shifted significantly from, say, Rosie O’Donnell and the other hosts of “The View.” Prompted by Rogan to reflect on regrets he had from his time in the Oval Office, President #45 didn’t hesitate in revisiting a familiar talking point: insulting those he personally feels have wronged him. In this case, that was a number of appointments he made as president, including the “idiot” John Bolton, as well as his former chief of staff John F. Kelly.

Trump’s presidency was, obviously, significant for a number of reasons, but one of the most prominent was his relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. After a heated 2017 back-and-forth which saw them insulting each other, they reportedly developed a rapport resembling friendship. Notably, Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to meet with a North Korean leader, but this ultimately did not yield any progress on the country’s denuclearization. On “Rogan,” Trump described his interactions with Kim, and amusingly suggested that the General Secretary take a break from building nuclear weapons to go relax on a beach.

It didn’t take long for Trump to let loose on one of his trademark stream-of-consciousness monologues. Soon after detailing his regrets as president, the former real estate magnate stopped to speculate as to precisely why he warrants so much media coverage and attention. As we all know by now, Trump is the only president to have served without previous government or military experience, which he highlighted during the Rogan interview. The podcaster offered up a humorous but accurate hypothesis: Trump’s characteristic penchant for outrageousness. Rogan then touched on how the former president’s unfiltered, outspoken, seemingly genuine nature has been an integral part of his appeal to voters.

It was the question that was on everyone’s mind: how is Rogan going to handle Trump’s election denialism? From day one, the former president has maintained that he did not lose the election to President Biden, and, very much in line with his other stances, that it was “crooked” and supposedly rigged against him. Rogan allowed Trump a soapbox to air his grievances, and his response was… interesting. The former president claimed to have documents that would prove his claims, and lambasted the voting process for its alleged unfairness. In one notable slip-up, Trump nearly admitted his margin of defeat before quickly correcting himself.

You kind of have to hand it to Trump: it was nothing short of incredibly bold of him to coax an endorsement out of Joe Rogan, live, on his own podcast. It was almost thrilling to watch: asking Rogan if he’d heard that Musk had endorsed him, Trump not-so-subtly tried to get the podcaster to do the same, right then and there. The former president expressed disbelief that Rogan could be a Harris voter, and made a somewhat curious argument as to how he knew that Rogan would be in the pro-Trump camp. Rogan, to his credit, did not seem to acknowledge Trump’s college try, laughing it off and encouraging the president to stay on-track.

On paper, the president and the podcaster seemed like a natural fit — and this proved to be mostly accurate during the interview itself. However, there were more than a few moments in which Rogan proved to be less than receptive to Trump’s signature braggadociousness. The most visible friction between the two stemmed from Rogan’s environmental concerns. The comedian listened intently as Trump described his history of supervising the construction of buildings in New York City and the environmental considerations that come with, as well as his criticism of bureaucracy and government red tape. In response, Rogan pushed back by suggesting that some level of regulation and oversight would prevent disasters such as the devastating 2010 BP oil spill.

In what was perhaps the most eyebrow-raising moment of Trump’s entire Joe Rogan experience, the former president casually floated his belief that there may be life on Mars. The admission was spurred on by Rogan’s inquiry into Trump’s decision to declassify documents relating to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Rogan, who’s spoken to ufologists in the past as part of his show, asked Trump about his interviews with pilots who claim to have witnessed such phenomena. The highlight occurred when Rogan challenged Trump on his suggestion, and the president responded by doubling down. Whether you love Trump or hate him, it’s inarguable that he’s an entirely unique personality.


What was your favorite moment from the former president’s appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience?” Be sure to let us know in the comments!