Influential podcaster Joe Rogan this week questioned President Donald Trump’s decision to strike Iran, saying some of the president’s supporters feel “betrayed” by the war.
Speaking on Iran with conservative author and writer Michael Shellenberger in a podcast episode released Tuesday, Rogan said the military operation “seems so insane given what he ran on.”
“I mean, that’s why a lot of people feel betrayed, right? He advocated ‘no more wars,’ ‘end these stupid, senseless wars,’ and then we have one that we can’t even really clearly define why we did it,” the podcaster, who welcomed Trump into his program two years ago and approved it on the eve of the 2024 elections, added.
Shellenberger responded to Rogan by saying that, on the campaign trail, Trump “said he was against endless wars.”
“They’re all endless,” Rogan responded, referencing comments from former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. made in 2003at the start of the war in Iraq.
“It could last, you know, six days, six weeks. I doubt six months,” Rumsfeld said at the time of the war, which lasted nearly nine years.
Earlier in the podcast episode, Rogan also called the U.S. military action in Iran “crazy,” while comparing it to an operation in Venezuela earlier this year, where U.S. troops captured then-President Nicolas Maduro and brought him to New York. face criminal charges.
“This one was at least clean. They come in, kidnap him, take him out. This one is crazy,” said Rogan, whose podcast has nearly 21 million subscribers on YouTube.
He and Shellenberger then discussed the president’s possible motivations for striking Iran, with Rogan questioning whether Trump was influenced by Israel or by “the war hawks around him.”
Later in the podcast episode, Rogan highlighted the ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, telling Shellenberger to “add [Iran] Bottom line, it really does feel like there’s a real possibility that we’re entering World War III. »
In response to a request for comment from NBC News on Rogan’s remarks, a White House spokesperson defended the president, saying the decision to strike Iran was “the highest possible priority for America.”
“President Trump is courageously protecting the United States from the deadly threat posed by the rogue Iranian regime – and it is the best possible way to do America First. The entire administration is working together to end Iran’s ability to possess a nuclear weapon, use or develop ballistic missiles, arm proxies, or use its now-defeated navy,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said.
“The president drew attention to the threat from the Iranian regime before he even took office, and his predecessors have talked about doing something for 47 years. Fortunately, President Trump had the courage to finally do something, and Iran is completely crushed under the weight of the U.S. military,” Kelly added.
Rogan, and other “manosphere” podcasters like Andrew Schulz, Theo Von and the Paul Brothers, were credited last year for helping Trump make gains with young men in the 2024 presidential election after hosting him on their podcasts, which regularly generate viral moments and garner millions of views.
In his victory speech on election night in 2024, Trump even thanked some of these podcastersmentioning them by name.
But Rogan’s criticism of the president this week isn’t the first time during Trump’s second term that podcasters who helped him in 2024 have spoken out about his policies. In recent months, Rogan, Von, Shawn Ryan and others spoke out publicly against the president’s mass deportation program, his administration’s support for Israel amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza, the administration’s handling of Jeffrey Epstein’s cases, and Trump’s attacks on comedian Jimmy Kimmel.
During a January episode of his podcast, Rogan said he could “see the point of view of people” who question ICE’s tactics, adding: “Are we really going to be the Gestapo? “Where are your papers?” Is this where we have arrived? »
Trump responded to Rogan’s comments during an interview with Tom Llamas of NBC News last month. Calling Rogan a “great guy,” Trump said he spoke with the podcaster about his criticism.
“I think he’s a great guy, and I think he likes me, too,” Trump said, adding, “And, you know, liking me isn’t important. What happens is – I think we do a phenomenal job, but I don’t think we’re good at PR.”
Young men’s support for Trump across the country began to decline in public polls and focus groups last year, a trend that has continued this year. A Reuters/Ipsos February poll found that 33% of men aged 18 to 29 approved of Trump’s performance in the White House, compared to 43% of the same group who said the same in 2025.
In the United States, the majority of registered voters disapprove of the president’s handling of the situation in Iran. an NBC News poll published last week found. Some of the president’s most vocal supporters, like former Fox News host Megyn Kelly and conservative activist Jack Posobiec, question how the Iranian offensive aligns with Trump’s “America First” agenda.
Since the United States and Israel launched joint strikes against Iran earlier this month, seven American soldiers died and Iran responded by launching strikes against Israel, nearby US bases and other targets in Middle Eastern countries.
In recent days, the president has hesitated in talking about how long the war might last.
Last week he suggested it it could take a month or morebut added that the army was ready to continue the operation “as long as necessary”.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that the war would end “when the commander in chief determines that the military objectives have been fully achieved and that Iran is in a position of complete and unconditional surrender, whether he says so or not.”
On Wednesday, Trump predicted that the war in Iran would end “soon” and that there was “virtually nothing left to target.” an interview with Axios.
He added: “The war is going wonderfully. We are well ahead of schedule. We have done more damage than we thought possible, even in the initial six weeks.”
