Trump’s ‘America First’ promise crumbles as a costly war rages, leaving this prominent supporter in disbelief
Podcaster Joe Rogan didn’t hold back in another episode of The Joe Rogan Experience on March 10, criticizing President Donald Trump over the US–Israel war on Iran, stating that it “doesn’t make any sense” and directly contradicted the “America First” platform Trump campaigned on. Rogan was speaking with author and journalist Michael Shellenberger about the administration’s rationale for the strikes and what the end game might be.
According to Newsweek, Rogan’s podcast pulls in around 11 million listeners. He’s even hosted Trump on his show before, which makes his current stance particularly notable. Shellenberger himself admitted he’d put a piece of writing on hold because the administration’s goals for Iran were just “not clear.”
Shellenberger pointed out that it’s unclear if the administration is really pushing for regime change or just “asserting power.” He mused that some of it could be “art of the deal,” trying to change the negotiation dynamic, much like with Venezuela. He doesn’t think most people believe this approach will actually change regimes, and he’s not even sure that’s the real goal.
Is the Iran war only about asserting American power in service of American interests?
Rogan agreed, saying “neither thing made any sense to me,” referring to both Venezuela and Iran. He called the Iran situation “nuts” and mentioned the difficulty in discerning what’s real due to a lot of “fake videos going around and a lot of weird posts on X.” Shellenberger added that one of the big takeaways from this war is that “Trump is in charge.”
Rogan then suggested the war “just doesn’t make any sense to me unless we’re acting on someone else’s interest, like particularly Israel’s interests.” He later noted that “clearly Israel wanted this,” a point Shellenberger agreed with, saying “Israel has its own motivations, I think.”
Later in the podcast Rogan pointed to the ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, telling Shellenberger that adding Iran “to the pile, it genuinely feels like there’s a real possibility that we might be entering World War III.” It’s worth noting that this isn’t the first time podcasters who once supported Trump have voiced their dissent and criticized the administration’s decisions during his second term.
The financial impact of this war is already hitting home. Republican Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky took to X a few days ago to voice his frustration, pointing out that, “The price of gas has gone up $0.47 and the price of diesel has gone up $0.83 in 10 days due to War with Iran.”
He added that waging this war costs American taxpayers about $1 billion per day, which works out to $10 per family per day, or $100 since the war began. Massie concluded bluntly, “This isn’t America First.”
Meanwhile, Trump continued his attack on Iran on the day. He made his own statement on Truth Social on March 10, warning against any potential mining of the Strait of Hormuz. He declared, “If Iran has put out any mines in the Hormuz Strait, and we have no reports of them doing so, we want them removed, IMMEDIATELY!” He warned that if mines were placed and not removed, “the Military consequences to Iran will be at a level never seen before.”
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