Joe Rogan Breaks With Trump Over Israel Policy, Calls Gaza Campaign 'Indefensible'

Podcast host Joe Rogan publicly broke with President Donald Trump’s assertion that Israel has not committed genocide in Gaza, saying he cannot see how anyone could defend the scale of the campaign there.

International Findings and Legal Actions

Rogan’s remarks came amid international scrutiny of Israel’s conduct in Gaza. In 2024, the International Criminal Court reportedly issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. A United Nations commission in 2025 concluded that Israel’s actions in Gaza met the legal threshold for genocide, writing that "explicit statements by Israeli civilian and military authorities and the pattern of conduct of the Israeli security forces indicate that the genocidal acts were committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as a group."

Rogan’s Comments

Speaking on his podcast with actor Tim Robbins, Rogan predicted that the view denying genocide will likely be "a universally accepted opinion" within 20 years. He said even accounting for the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks—which killed about 1,200 people and left roughly 251 taken hostage—he could not reconcile continued support for Israel’s campaign in Gaza.

"How could anybody defend that? I don't even know how many people are dead," Rogan said. "You have a complete wipeout of a city, like 90% of Gaza is gone."

Rogan cited figures reported by the Gaza Health Ministry that place the death toll in Gaza at more than 75,000 since the Oct. 7 attacks. The podcast exchange highlights a rare public divergence between Rogan—who has long been viewed as sympathetic to Trump—and the president’s public stance on the conflict.

Industry Backlash And Free Speech Concerns

The discussion began after Robbins criticized how parts of the entertainment industry responded to criticism of Israel. Robbins said it was "nuts" that an agent severed ties with actor Susan Sarandon after she spoke out, and added that Sarandon has struggled to find work since expressing her views.

"I think the point of it is to make a show of it and to say, 'See, we could do that to her, so we could do it to you, so shut the **** up,'" Robbins said.

Rogan’s comments underscore how debates over Gaza, accountability and free expression continue to ripple through media, politics and culture. Reported legal actions, U.N. findings, and conflicting casualty counts contribute to a complex and highly charged public conversation.