Big Problems Loom Over Donald Trump as Political Expert Predicts Bad Times on ‘Joe Rogan Experience’

Donald Trump was often discussed on the Joe Rogan Experience during the build-up to the 2024 US presidential elections. In fact, the newly elected President made an experience on the show just as the polling began. Trump discussed the idea of eliminating the income tax, how NBC tried to talk him out of running for the White House, and his thoughts on extra-terrestrial life. Rogan also gave his backing to Trump, who eventually emerged victorious.

Now that Trump is set to take office on January 20, Rogan is eager to see what comes next for the Republican. After all, the JRE podcast host threw the entire weight of his uber-influential podcast behind him in the lead-up to the 2024 Presidential elections. Hence, when Rod Blagojevich was a guest on the JRE, Trump was always going to be in the conversation and the former Illinois Governor had words of warning for the President-elect.

Blagojevich was jailed for corruption and later had his sentence commuted by then-President Trump in 2018. He feels the strong opposition from the Democrats would be the theme of the second Trump term from day one.

“I think the opportunity for the Trump administration, for President Trump, is the first six months to a year because this time he has a bit of a honeymoon with the voters. He didn’t get that in 2016, but this time he has it. He’s got wind at his back because that was a mandate. But he’s going to get no honeymoon from the Democrats and traditionally presidents get, even the other party will give them the first three to six months before they start pi**ing all over them, you know what I mean,”  the former Governor said on episode #2245 of the JRE podcast.

Trump, of course, won both the electoral college and the popular votes, becoming the first Republican Presidential candidate to do so in 20 years. Many feel this means he has a mandate to go full-throttle and implement many parts of his agenda.

In his campaign agenda, Trump had a raft of changes planned for when he eventually comes to power. It includes tax cuts, a stricter immigration policy, supporting the Affordable Care Act, and imposing new 10-20% tariffs on most foreign goods among a slew of other changes.

However, it might not be easy for Trump to do as he wishes. Critics argue that the President-elect won 49% of the votes to Kamala Harris’ 48%, and since a majority of Americans did not vote for Trump, calling his victory a mandate is not entirely correct. Blagojevich argued that the Democrats have been fiercely against Trump and how he has navigated these troubled waters.

“No one’s been treated as a new president as terribly as Trump has been treated by the Democrats in Washington because he’s a real threat to change things and he’s a guy who’s actually trying to keep his promises and these appointments they’re very different they’re very unusual but they show he learned the lesson that you can’t trust those Washington insiders because they’ll infiltrate your government and they’ll be the ones who will try to not carry out your orders,” Blagojevich said, who has worked as an author, speaker, and political commentator.

Getting his appointments wrong last time was something Trump admitted during his appearance on the JRE in November. Trump told Rogan the “biggest mistake” of his last presidential run was “I picked a few people I shouldn’t have picked.” Meanwhile, Trump’s claims of a mandate also suffered a setback on Thursday.

Trump’s demand for a congressional funding package was rejected by dozens of Republicans in a vote on the House floor. The Senate passed a new bill to avert a government shutdown early Saturday, however, it did not include Trump’s debt limit demand. This could foreshadow the challenges that lie ahead for him, with trouble in convincing his party members.

Facing hurdles would be nothing new for Trump, who revealed that NBC tried to keep him on

The Apprentice and tried to talk him out of running for president in 2016. “They wanted me to stay,” he said on the JRE in November. “All the top people came over to see me, try and talk me out of it, because they wanted to have me extend.”

Trump is going face pushback in his second run in the White Hous and this, of course, is bad news for Rogan, who endorsed Trump heavily and may have even played a key role in his election.

Joe Rogan’s role in Donald Trump’s re-election

Donald Trump’s strongest support base was among young men, who also form the majority of Joe Rogan’s podcast listeners. JRE has more than 18 million subscribers on YouTube and more than 14 million followers on Spotify.

According to the firm Edison Research, almost 80% of Rogan’s audience are men, while half are between the ages of 18 and 34. This is why Trump’s appearance on JRE in the days leading up to the election is seen as pretty significant in Trump’s election, who focused on podcasts popular with younger men over traditional media outlets.

Not to mention this election is being termed as the ‘podcast election’ because of the various podcasts the candidates, especially Trump and his VP, JD Vance went on prior to the election. Rogan backed Trump, sharing a post on X, saying that the case made by Elon Musk was “the most compelling case for Trump you’ll hear, and I agree with him every step of the way”.

With the rise of digital media, there has been a significant shift in how people, especially young people especially get their news. Cable news and other legacy media outlets are losing ground, as people turn increasingly to YouTube and social media to inform them on politics.

Because of all these factors, history may remember 2024 as a watershed moment, where one podcast in particular – Joe Rogan’s – was more influential than entire legacy media outlets in swaying voters. What do you think about Joe Rogan and Rod Blagojevich’s take on the challenges Trump will face on taking office?