Podcaster Joe Rogan warned in his Wednesday episode that the Trump administration’s deployment of troops to U.S. cities is a “dangerous precedent.”
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment via email on Thursday.
Why It Matters
Rogan, credited with partially boosting President Donald Trump’s popularity ahead of the 2024 election, has also at times criticized the Trump administration, particularly over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids. Millions of people listen to Rogan’s podcast, with over 20 million subscribers on YouTube.
His comments come amid an immigration crackdown, with Trump having pledged to launch the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history. Immigrants residing in the country both illegally and legally, with valid documentation, including green cards and visas, have been detained.
The president has authorized the deployment of hundreds of National Guard troops to Chicago, a city that has been in the spotlight since the administration ramped up immigration enforcement efforts there as part of Operation Midway Blitz. He has previously authorized troops elsewhere, such as Los Angeles, over the summer.
What To Know
On the Wednesday episode of his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, Rogan touched on the current immigration landscape while speaking with comedian Bryan Callen.
Rogan, who backed Trump’s 2024 presidential run, said not all Trump supporters favor every White House initiative, arguing: “but does that mean that you support everything that they are doing right now, that they are kicking people out, no, no.”
He continued, “The storming into the f****** Home Depot and arrested people, no, no that’s not cool either. The military in the street, I think, is a dangerous precedent, but also, why are you allowing people to just riot in the streets and burn down buildings?”
Rogan argued that “there’s a balance to be had here, and there’s a conversation to be had.”
His comments come after he previously warned about the way in which ICE is conducting raids and arresting people, saying earlier in October that “the way it looks is horrific.”
He noted then, “When you’re just arresting people in front of their kids, and just, normal, regular people who have been here for 20 years. That everybody who has a heart can’t get along with that. Everybody who has a heart sees that and goes, ‘That can’t be right.’”
Rogan has repeatedly stated that he supports securing the border; however, he has argued that people who have been “productive” members of society, don’t have criminal backgrounds, and have paid taxes should be able to find pathways to citizenship.
What People Are Saying
U.S. District Court Judge April Perry wrote when blocking National Guard deployment in Illinois: “I have seen no credible evidence that there has been rebellion in the state of Illinois.”
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement earlier this month: “Amidst ongoing violent riots and lawlessness that local leaders like [Illinois Governor] Pritzker have refused to step in to quell, President Trump has exercised his lawful authority to protect federal officers and assets. President Trump will not turn a blind eye to the lawlessness plaguing American cities, and we expect to be vindicated by a higher court.”
U.S. District Court Judge Karin Immergut wrote in a ruling related to the federalizing and deploying National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon: “The administration’s justification for the deployment was simply untethered to the facts.”
White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller wrote in an October 6 X post: “There is no legal distinction between a state volunteering guardsmen to guard the border and volunteering guardsmen to guard a federal immigration facility. Either we have a federal government, a supremacy clause, and a nation, or we don’t.”
What Happens Next
The Trump administration is involved in several legal cases related to troop deployments and immigration. On Wednesday, Trump floated the idea of sending the National Guard to San Francisco.
