Trump Brushes Aside Joe Rogan's ICE Criticism and Epstein Files 'Distraction' Accusations — And Insists the Podcaster Is a 'Great Guy'

Donald Trump said his bromance with Joe Rogan is still going strong despite the podcast's recent criticisms of the president's ICE operations and the Jeffrey Epstein files, RadarOnline.com can reveal.

Trump, 79, claimed the pair just had a "great conversation” where a "little bit" about Rogan's concerns came up while speaking to NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Llamas in a wide-ranging interview.

Rogan's name came up only 11 minutes into the nearly hour-long sit-down.

"Joe Rogan was one of your biggest endorsers in 2024," Llamas acknowledged about the world's most-listened to podcaster.

"He said he understands that the president's plan to deport people here who are here illegally. But he also understands why critics compare ICE officers to the Gestapo, asking people for their papers. What is your response to him?" the anchorman wanted to know.

"Well, look, first of all, he's a great guy. We had a tremendous success before the election. I think it was his biggest interview ever, and over 300 million people. It was very good," Trump bragged about his October 2024 marathon appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience.

"But I spoke to him three days ago. We had a great conversation, and all I'm doing is," Trump continued before Llamas cut him off.

"Did he mention this to you? Did you guys talk about this? The ICE enforcement?" the newsman wanted to know.

"A little bit," Trump revealed, adding they "just had a good conversation."

"I think he's a great guy, and I think he likes me too. And, you know, liking me isn't important," the president confessed.

Trump then said his White House does a "phenomenal job," but "I don't think we're good at public relations" because they "don't sell the great job that we're doing."

Rogan discussed ICE's tactics while defending the need for agents to wear masks during a January 13 podcast episode with guest Rand Paul.

After saying how he can see the side of people who argue that unchecked immigration under Joe Biden's administration was to increase potential Democratic voters, Rogan said he didn't want to see "Gestapo" tactics.

"I can also see the point of view of the people that say, 'Yeah, but you don't want militarized people in the streets just roaming around snatching people up,' many of which turn out to actually be US citizens that just don't have their papers on them," he explained.

"Are we really going to be the Gestapo? Where's your papers? Is that what we've come to? So, it's more complicated than I think people want to admit," Rogan said about the ICE issue.

In July, Rogan was critical of ICE raids at Home Depot store parking lots, calling the roundups "insane."

"Targeting of migrant workers. Not cartel members, not gang members, not drug dealers. Just construction workers. Showing up in construction sites, raiding them. Gardeners. Like, really?” the podcast host complained at the time.

The former Fear Factor host has also had harsh words about the slow trickle of released documents related to Epstein.

"Well, it's gonna go on for a long time, I suspect," he said in January, before the Department of Justice released three million new documents. "I mean, they said they released them, but what did they release? The whole thing's weird."

Rogan went on to suggest that fraud investigations of businesses run by Somali immigrants in Minnesota and the January 7 fatal ICE shooting of agitator Renee Good had been used as distractions to drown out questions about why more Epstein documents hadn't come out.