Podcast host Joe Rogan recently expressed his frustration with Donald Trump and the war in Iran, which had left him feeling “politically homeless.” With remarkable speed, the White House responded, not by attacking the host, but by announcing a policy measure to address one of Rogan’s concerns. The Washington Post reported:
Trump on Saturday ordered new efforts to boost federal research into psychedelics and make the drugs available in controlled therapeutic settings, flanked by military veterans who said the move would save lives. […]
The president was joined by federal health officials and Joe Rogan, a popular podcaster who had urged Trump to increase access to psychedelics.
While the White House tends not to organize Saturday-morning events, officials made an exception this past weekend, holding an Oval Office gathering in which the president signed a directive on psychedelics. Rogan’s role was unsubtle: The podcast host literally stood behind Trump, hovering over the president.
What’s more, Trump repeatedly talked about Rogan, crediting him for helping put the issue on his radar and describing the host as “the great Joe Rogan,” who’s “a fantastic person.” The president also offered the host an opportunity to speak at the signing ceremony, and Rogan talked about recently having sent Trump some information on the issue.
“The text message came back, ‘Sounds great. Do you want FDA approval? Let’s do it,’” Rogan explained. “It was literally that quick.”
Soon after, Mehmet Oz, who leads the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, told attendees, “This was an unimaginable task in one week to be able to go from a series of connections and communications with Joe Rogan” to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
In other words, according to powerful federal officials speaking at a White House event, a podcast host with no medical background sent some information to a president who has long struggled to understand scientific basics, and just days later, the president issued a controversial directive related to potentially dangerous drugs without any meaningful deliberation or forethought.
Appearing on MS NOW, The Bulwark’s Jonathan Cohn helped highlight the underlying concern: “There are dangers here. We want the FDA to be going where the data and the science takes it, not because a powerful influencer called up Donald Trump and — either because he likes Joe Rogan, or maybe he doesn’t want Joe Rogan mad at him about the Iran war anymore — he says, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’”
The point isn’t that federal research into psychedelics is a bad idea. More evidence will lead to better outcomes and potential treatments for people who need them. Rather, the point is that there’s a policymaking problem when a president starts barking orders to the Food and Drug Administration because a podcaster whom Trump is eager to please told him it might be a good idea.
In normal, modern administrations, the pipeline flows in the opposite direction. One ordinarily expects to see the White House come up with ideas, at which point presidential aides reach out to allies to help get the word out and advance the message. In 2026, however, it’s become increasingly common to see the reverse: Influencers are helping steer the federal government, including the White House.
It’s a problem that there are so many amateurs in the White House and throughout the administration. But it’s just as big a problem that they’re taking direction from other amateurs with media megaphones.
This post updates our related earlier coverage.
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