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By Mandy Taheri
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Podcaster Joe Rogan said on a recent episode of his show that despite public disagreement and circulating commentary about his relationship with President Donald Trump, it “wasn’t like he was mad” at him at a recent UFC fight.
Rogan noted that he and Trump still maintain cordial relations, adding that he influenced the president’s recent executive order on ibogaine.
Why It Matters
Despite endorsing Trump on the eve of the 2024 election, Rogan has at times criticized the president on a range of issues. Rogan’s break from Trump has been most pronounced over the war in Iran, which he has condemned in blunt terms on his podcast, as well as criticism of federal immigration enforcement operations.
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Rogan has still maintained notable access with the president, including high‑profile greetings at UFC fights. He has become a prominent voice willing to challenge Trump from outside the political system.
What To Know
In a Tuesday episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, guest Luis Gomez said, “The big conspiracy theory is that Trump is mad at you, when he came up to you at UFC, and he was talking s*** to you?”
Rogan replied, “No, it was the opposite.”
He said that earlier in the week, he had told Trump about the drug ibogaine, saying, “I said how effective it is, and I said it’s been held up for so long. And he said, ‘What are you looking for? Are you looking for FDA approval?’ He goes, ‘That sounds good to me.’ He said, ‘Let’s do it!’”
Rogan continued, “Literally he sees me at the UFC the next day, shakes my hand and says ’it’s done.'"
"That’s what he was saying and I said, ‘Thank you, sir.’ It wasn’t like he was mad at me at all; it was the opposite.”
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On Saturday, Trump signed an executive order that he says will “dramatically accelerate access to new medical research and treatments based on psychedelic drugs." Rogan was present behind the president in the Oval Office during the signing.
“We all respect Joe and he's a little bit more liberal than I am. That's OK. I have a lot of friends that are liberal," Trump said during the Oval Office event. "Joe is an amazing guy. He wrote me a little note about this, and I had it checked out. Everybody came back with the same answer."
Trump’s executive order directs federal agencies to accelerate research, review, and potential approval of psychedelic-based treatments, including ibogaine, for serious mental illnesses, particularly for patients who have not responded to existing therapies.
While ibogaine remains a Schedule I controlled substance, reports that some veterans traveling abroad for treatment saw improvements in post-traumatic stress disorder and depression have received renewed attention amid the order.
In recent years, U.S. veterans have sought ibogaine treatment in clinics outside the country, including Mexico, reporting improvements in PTSD, depression and anxiety, findings echoed in small Stanford-associated studies of special operations veterans who received ibogaine with magnesium under medical monitoring in Mexico, according to Stanford Medicine in 2024.
Joe Rogan's Criticism of Donald Trump Explained
Rogan has criticized Trump over immigration enforcement, the Iran war and the administration’s handling of the Epstein files, among other issues. He has taken issue with ICE raids and various enforcement operations, saying agents were targeting “the easiest pickings,” and later argued that masked federal officers are “a problem on our city streets” amid scrutiny of immigration enforcement in Minneapolis, particularly following the fatal shooting of residents Renee Good and, then later, of Alex Pbretti.
On Iran, he suggested the administration's involvement may be to distract from the Epstein files, saying, “Look, the Epstein files come out—we go to war with Iran."
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