In a much-anticipated episode of the “Joe Rogan Experience,” Donald Trump and Joe Rogan tackled a range of topics that have already drawn over 22 million views within 24 hours. Although impressive, the episode hasn’t cracked YouTube’s top 10 most-viewed videos within a single day.
For context, the record for most views in a 24-hour window goes to BTS’s “Butter,” which hit 108 million views, while Taylor Swift’s “ME!” managed 65.2 million in its debut day.
In the high-profile appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, Donald Trump held nothing back, diving into his presidency, UFOs, and even an assassination attempt scar.
Speaking on his cabinet choices, Trump called them his “one big mistake,” explaining that he regretted picking some “disloyal people” and “neocons” who later turned against him.
‘I picked Some people I shouldn’t have picked’
The remark prompted Rogan to confirm if he meant “neocons,” to which Trump replied with a resounding, “Yeah, neocons, or bad people.”
“But I will say that it always comes back to the same answer,” Trump said. “The biggest mistake I made was I picked some people, I picked some great people, you know, but you don’t think about that. I picked some people that I shouldn’t have picked. I picked a few people that I shouldn’t have picked.”
The Revelation on John Kelly and John Bolton
The former president named former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and National Security Adviser John Bolton as the picks he most regretted, branding Kelly as a “bully” and Bolton as “an idiot.” Both former officials have since become fierce Trump critics, with Kelly accusing Trump of admiring Hitler and Bolton dubbing Trump “too stupid to be a true fascist.”
In 2019, Trump fired Bolton, who remains a staunch critic. Trump described how Phil Ruffin, a fellow American businessman, warned him that Bolton was a “bad guy,” but by then, Trump had already hired him.
“And he was right. But he was good in a certain way. He’s a nut job. And every time I had to deal with a country when they saw this whack job standing behind me, they said, ‘Man, Trump’s going to go to war with us.’ He was with Bush when they went stupidly into the Middle East. They should have never done it. I used to say it as a civilian, so I always got more publicity than other people,” Trump said.
‘Little Rocket Man, just Relax, Go to the Beach’
In his meeting with former President Obama during the presidential transition period, Trump recalled, “Obama thought we were going to go to war with North Korea.” Rogan then referenced how Trump dubbed North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un “Little Rocket Man” early on in his first term.
“I said, ‘Little Rocket Man, you’re going to burn in hell.’ And it was rough,” Trump said. “I got to know him better than anybody, anybody. And I said, ‘Do you ever do anything else? Why don’t you go take it easy and relax? Go to the beach?’ You know, kiddingly, I said, ‘You’re always building nuclear. Just relax. You don’t have to do it. Let’s build some condos.'”
He Wants RFK Jr. to Make Amercia Healthy But Avoids Debates About Oil
Rogan praised Trump for partnering with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to “Make America Healthy Again” and asked the Republican presidential nominee if he would completely commit to having Kennedy, a former independent presidential candidate, as part of his administration.
“Oh, I am, but the only thing I want to be a little careful about with him is the environmental. Because, you know, he doesn’t like oil. I love oil,” Trump said. “I think just keep him out of the fire. So I’m going to keep him out of a little bit. I said focus on health. Focus. You could do whatever you want, but, I got to be a little bit careful with the liquid gold.”
Unloads on Biden and General Mark Milley on Botched Afghanistan Withdrawal
Rogan and Trump discussed the botched Afghanistan withdrawal under the Biden-Harris administration. In addition to the 13 U.S. service members killed in a suicide bombing at Kabul airport, Rogan referenced how the United States left behind billions of dollars worth of equipment now seen in Taliban military parades.
Trump said President Biden should have fired everyone involved in planning the withdrawal, taking issue with retired Gen. Mark Milley, who served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Trump and Biden.
Trump said U.S. troops should have left last from Bagram Air Base because it’s located “one hour away from where China makes its nuclear missiles” and should have taken all their equipment with them.
“Every plane, every screw should have been taken out, every tent. And I said that. That’s when I realized that Milley was a dummy. I said, ‘we’re leaving, but I want to get everything out,'” Trump said.
“‘Sir, it’s cheaper to leave it,'” Trump said Milley told him.
“It’s cheaper to leave it?” Rogan asked. “Yeah, he said it’s cheaper to leave it,” Trump affirmed.
“Cheaper?” Rogan asked again. “Not more dangerous?”
“He just said cheaper,” Trump said. “I said ‘I want every plane, I want every tank, I want the goggles, said night goggles. They have all this stuff that these guys now have.’ He said, ‘sir, it’s cheaper to get out and leave it.’ I said, so you think it’s cheaper to leave $150 million brand new airplane in there than it is to fly it out with a tank of jet fuel and put it in Pakistan, or just fly it directly back?”
“‘It’s cheaper to leave it.’ I said, ‘this guy’s nuts,'” Trump added. “I’m telling you, he was so stupid. He was so unwise. He was like an unwise man. And there were a number of them.”
Trump also recalled how he spoke with Taliban’s chief negotiator Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.
“I had a couple of conversations with Abdul, and from the time I had those conversations, because they were shooting our soldiers, you know, with the sniper stuff,” Trump said. “They were shooting a lot with Obama, much less with me. But they were shooting them. And I said, get this guy on the phone. The press went nuts when they heard this. I had a great conversation – It was a tough conversation. 18 months later, there wasn’t one soldier that was ever shot at, and even Biden admitted it in a moment of stupidity.”
Addressing Election Claims, Alien Intel and Life on Mars
No Rogan podcast with Trump would be complete without a discussion on the 2020 election. Rogan probed Trump on his claims of a “stolen election,” prompting Trump to label 2020 as “the most crooked election.” Trump also revealed he’d received insider knowledge on extraterrestrial life but kept it vague, adding with a laugh, “They told me a lot.”
“It’s not a great interest for me, but it’s a little interest. I get that question as much as almost any question. Do you think that we have aliens coming, you know, flying around or whatever?” Trump said. “I mean, there’s no reason not to think that Mars and all these planets don’t have life, you know?”
Assassination Attempt and a Scar
Trump Reveals Scar from Assassination Attempt on Joe Rogan’s Podcast
Former President Donald Trump surprised fans by flashing a scar from an assassination attempt during his much-anticipated interview with comedian Joe Rogan, released Friday night. Trump, 78, pointed to the wound behind his right ear, crediting the ordeal for making him a “tougher guy.”
“It zicked right there,” Trump said, pointing out the scar to Rogan, who replied, “It healed up pretty f—ing good.”
Trump recounted the July 13 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where 20-year-old gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire from a rooftop 130 yards away, nicking the former president’s ear. Recalling the experience, Trump said, “It’s not like some UFC fight… it was like a top shot.” He laughed it off, adding, “But it makes me a tougher guy.”
The Dangers of the Presidency
Throughout the nearly three-hour conversation, which garnered over 350,000 views within minutes of airing, Trump underscored the risks of being president. “It’s a dangerous business,” he said, describing the position as a magnet for threats. “I do what’s right, and sometimes that makes you a target.”
Rogan, 57, suggested that media and political opponents, including Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton, might fuel these threats by portraying Trump as “Hitler.” Rogan added, “The rhetoric is that you’re Hitler, and in order to stop Hitler, you have to do whatever it takes.”
Trump Pushes Rogan for an Endorsement
During the interview, Trump made a bold pitch for Rogan’s endorsement, referencing Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s recent support. “He gave me the nicest endorsement,” Trump said of Musk. Turning to Rogan, Trump insisted, “You should do the same thing, Joe—you can’t be voting for Kamala. You’re not a Kamala person. I know you.”
The podcast episode, filmed in Rogan’s Austin studio, quickly became a talking point, with fans eager to see how Rogan will respond to Trump’s direct appeal for support.
Trump Wants Taxes Gone and Finance Government with Tariffs
In a bold new proposal, Donald Trump announced he’s serious about scrapping federal income tax if he wins the 2024 presidential race. Speaking on Joe Rogan’s podcast Friday, Trump floated the idea of funding the government through tariffs on foreign imports—a system reminiscent of the late 19th century.
Referencing President William McKinley’s 1890 policy of raising import duties to nearly 50%, Trump suggested a similar approach could fund government operations without burdening Americans with federal income tax. “We did it before, and we can do it again,” Trump asserted, drawing a direct line to historical practices before the income tax was introduced.
To me, the most beautiful word, I’ve said this for the last couple of weeks in the dictionary today is the word tariff,” Trump continued. “It’s more beautiful than love, more beautiful than anything. It’s the most beautiful word. This country can become rich with the use, the proper use of tariffs.”
Did you just float out the idea of getting rid of income taxes and replacing it with tariffs?” Rogan interjected. “Were you serious about that?”
“Yeah, sure. Why not?” Trump said. “Our country was the richest, relatively in the 1880s and 1890s. A president who was assassinated, named McKinley, he was the tariff king.”
“He spoke beautifully of tariffs. His language was really beautiful. ‘We will not allow the enemy to come in and take our jobs and take our factories and take our workers and take our families unless they pay a big price. And the big price is tariffs.’ And he’d speak like that. But he was right,” Trump said. “And then around in the early 1900s, they switched over stupidly to, frankly, an income tax.”
Trump Responds to Kamala Harris Comparing him to Hitler
Trump described Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Karris as a “very low IQ person,” when Rogan asked him about how Harris compared her Republican opponent to Adolf Hitler.
“There’s the rhetoric is also that you’re Hitler and that in order to stop Hitler, you have to do whatever,” Rogan said. “I mean, you’re hearing this now, Kamala compared you, said you love Hitler yesterday.”
“Kamala is a very low IQ person. She’s a very low IQ. You know, I’m for taking tests too. I think anybody that runs for president should take, they should give them a test,” Trump said.
“And it’s not an age thing,” Trump said. “If you look back on history, 70s and 80s, your greatest, some of your greatest leaders in the world, world history, long time world history, they were in their 70s, in their 80s. But I think you should take cognitive tests. I think everybody – they say it’s unconstitutional, but I think that’s ridiculous. I think Kamala should have a test because there’s something missing. There’s something wrong with her.”
