Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox
Get our free Inside Washington email
Get our free Inside Washington email
Podcaster Joe Rogan has joked that President Donald Trump should run to be the next governor of California after leaving the White House to “fix” the Golden State and troll liberals.
On the latest episode of his Spotify show The Joe Rogan Experience, the host described friends he said were “fleeing L.A.” because they dislike the left-leaning political climate in the Western state in conversation with British comedian Francis Foster and political commentator Konstantin Kasin, the co-hosts of Trigonometry.
“It’s like everybody went crazy,” Rogan said of life in California. “It’s like there’s something that happened because of the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests and the riots and all the chaos.
“Whatever the temperature of society was, it hit societal global warming where it’s like – it’s time to investigate Greenland. It’s time to move north, like this is a bad climate now. This sucks.”
open image in gallery
Joe Rogan jokes about the prospect of President Donald Trump succeeding California Gov. Gavin Newsom on The Joe Rogan Experience on Wednesday October 22 2025 (The Joe Rogan Experience)
The host continued: “What Donald Trump should do is, when he leaves the office, is run for governor of California and just take over California and fix it.
“It would be hilarious if he did. It would be one of the funniest things of all time if an 82-year-old man steps into the office of governor of California. ‘We’re gonna fix everything. You’ve got a problem with water. I know how to get the water.’ It would be f***ing hilarious.”
Rogan has recently broken with Trump, whom he interviewed during the climax to last year’s presidential election, over the president’s moves to send federal troops into Democrat-run cities and over his rejection of the late Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk’s open-minded attitude towards his political adversaries and detractors.
“I hate my opponent,” Trump said in response to Kirk’s stance. “And I don’t want the best for them.”
Rogan, perhaps surprisingly, condemned the remark on his show last week, commenting: “I don’t agree with any of that. He’s a nut.”
California’s current governor is Democrat Gavin Newsom, who is term-limited and will step down after the November 2026 gubernatorial election.
Newsom is widely believed to harbor presidential ambitions and has distinguished himself this year by ridiculing Trump on social media, offering vicious parodies of the president’s idiosyncratic posting style.
open image in gallery
Gov. Newsom has recently complained about not being invited on Rogan’s show, despite the host frequently invoking him and criticising his record of public service (Getty)
He recently turned his attention to Rogan, attacking the podcaster as “snack-sized,” comparing him to “Dozy” Don [Trump], and suggesting he had“chickened out” of inviting him onto his show.
The broadside came in response to Rogan pouring scorn on Newsom’s supposed dream of winning the White House by saying derisively, “You can’t ruin a city and then go on to ruin a state and say, ‘Guys, that was just practice. Once I get in as president, I’m gonna fix it all.’”
Newsom continued his complaint about Rogan on the Higher Learning podcast, telling hosts Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay: “He’s been attacking me for years and years and years and won’t have me on the show.
“Joe, why won’t you have me on the show? He won’t have me on the show. It’s one way. And he has guests coming and attacking and bashing, but he will not have me on the show. Period. Full stop.”
Interestingly, Newsom has previously expressed admiration for Rogan, telling The Shawn Ryan Show in July, “By the way, I’m a Joe Rogan fan. He ain’t a fan of mine, but I’m a Joe Rogan fan. No bulls***.
“And I’ve lived it for decades… I feel like it’s a decade back in the day before Joe was Joe Rogan. He was just a podcaster, man. Now he’s a phenom.”
