Former President Trump discussed on Joe Rogan’s podcast the Afghanistan withdrawal, the possibility of life on Mars, his talks with Kim Jong Un and more.
Former President Trump taped “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast for nearly three hours on Friday.
The podcast, recorded in Austin, Texas, afforded the Republican presidential nominee exposure to Rogan’s 14.5 million followers on Spotify and 17.6 million followers on YouTube. Rogan, the nation’s most-listened-to podcast host, is extremely influential with young male voters, who Trump is aiming to reach.
Here are the top takeaways from the podcast that aired on Friday.
Trump told Rogan that he regretted some of the appointments he made in his first term.
“The one question that you’ll ask me that I think you’ll ask me that people seem to ask – and I always come up with the same answer – if I, the one mistake because I had a lot of success, great economy, great everyth, everything was great with the military rebuilt the biggest tax cuts in history, all the stuff we did, we had a great presidency,” Trump said. “Three Supreme Court justices. Most people get none. You know, you pick them young this way. They’re there for 50 years. Right. So, you know, even if a president is there for eight years, oftentimes they never have a chance. I had three. It was the luck of the draw.”
“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.”
“And neocons,” Rogan said.
“Yeah, neocons or bad people or disloyal people,” Trump said.
While explaining the process of choosing political nominations once he got into office, Trump discussed his initial appointment of John Bolton, who served as White House National Security adviser. 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.
“It wasn’t like I was trying,” Trump said. “In fact, I don’t know exactly why. Maybe you can tell me.”
“I could definitely tell you,” Rogan offered. “You said a lot of wild s—. … And then CNN in all their brilliance by highlighting your wild s— made you much more popular. And they boost you in the polls because people were tired of someone talking in this bulls— pre-prepared politician lingo. And even if they didn’t agree with you, they at least knew whoever that guy is, that’s him. That’s really him.”
“The rebels are Republicans now, though, like you want to be invisible, you want to be punk rock, you want to like, buck the system? You’re a conservative now,” Rogan said. “That’s how crazy. And then the liberals are now pro-silencing criticism. They’re pro-censorship online. … [T]hey come in regulating free speech and now regulating the First Amendment. It’s bananas to watch.”
Elon Musk, who took over Twitter — now X — in 2022, responded to the clip, writing, “Exactly.”
“You know they come after their political opponent,” Trump told Rogan in response. “I’ve been investigated more than Alfonse Capone.”
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.'”
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.”
Rogan, showing Trump charts, referenced how “there are chemicals and ingredients in our food that are illegal in other countries because they’ve been shown to be toxic.”
“There’s pesticides and herbicides, and there’s a lot of sh– that’s been sprayed on our food that really is unnecessary,” the podcaster said. “And there’s a lot of health consequences.” Rogan added that Kennedy recently told him that “more than 70% of young men are ineligible for the military because of their health.”
“But RFK is going to be – you know I think he’s a great guy,” Trump said.
Rogan also asked if Trump faced pressure not to work with Kennedy.
“But I would say that the Big Pharma wasn’t thrilled when they heard that,” Trump said. “I’ve actually always gotten along very well with him. I’ve known him a long time. He’s a different kind of a guy. He’s very smart, great guy, and he’s very sincere about this. I mean, he really is. You know, he thinks we spend a fortune on pesticides and all this stuff, and then you end up at that chart is a terrible shot.”
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.”
Trump spoke of efforts to have cars made in the United States, specifically to revitalize the once booming industry in Detroit, Michigan. Recently, Trump threatened a large auto plant “being built by China in Mexico” that he would implement 100 or 200% tariffs on every car made there if he wins, so “they’ll be unsaleable in the United States.” In response, the plant reportedly announced it would stop production.
“This was the biggest plant in the world. It would have more than all of Michigan makes. That’s how big,” Trump said. “You know, this is what we’re getting to. And I said, if that plant goes up, I want them to understand if I win, I’m going to tax those cars at the rate of 100 or 200% apiece so that you won’t be able to sell them in the United States. They just announced they’re not going to build the plant.”
“I did a big favor for our country by doing that. And I’m not even there yet. 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 said he has interviewed jet pilots who described seeing what looked like a ball that traveled four times faster than an F-22 plane, opening the conversation up to the subject of UFOs.
“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?”
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.”
“Well, I think it’s pressure,” Rogan said. “I think the pressure and the scrutiny. You’ve been a celebrity for a long time, and you understand what this is like. But for someone who’s in her late 40s, who becomes the vice president, who runs for president, becomes a vice president, and then all of a sudden, the weight of the world is on your shoulders. And there’s all these people, a lot of people clam up.”
“But you either have it or you don’t,” Trump said. Rogan agreed, “Correct.”
From the official vice presidential residence at the White House on Wednesday, Harris accepted the claim of former Trump White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, who said Trump wanted “Hitler’s generals.” Harris said her GOP opponent is “unhinged” and seeks “unchecked power.”
Rogan acknowledged how the Republican presidential nominee appeared on his friend and fellow comedian Theo Von’s “This Past Weekend” podcast in August.
“Is that why you called me to do this?” Trump asked.
“No, no,” Rogan said. “Once they shot you, I was like, he’s got to come in here. It’s all about timing. I think our timing is perfect… Do you even have a scar on your ear? You got anything on there?”
“I do,” Trump said, “so right over here.”
“Oh, it’s a tiny mark,” Rogan said.
“It zinged right there,” Trump said, motioning to the side of his ear.
“It healed up pretty f—ing good,” Rogan offered.
“Yeah, it’s pretty good. Yeah, it’s a little… It’s not like some of the wrestlers, some of the UFC fighters,” Trump said. “It was sort of like a top shot.. but it makes me a tougher guy.”
