On the latest episode of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, host Joe Rogan strongly criticized U.S. President Donald Trump over how his administration handled the release of the infamous Epstein files.
Speaking to his co-host, Rogan spoke about the controversy and delays surrounding the investigation documents. He further addressed how the Trump administration’s mishandling of the files has led to the failure in protecting the victims of the disgraced financier.
“It’s crazy. The whole thing is crazy because like… why have you protected people?” Rogan asked. Questioning why some names were hidden in the released documents, the podcaster argued that the names of people mentioned in the Epstein files should not be protected unless they are victims.
Clarifying how redacted names in the files without clear reasons creates suspicion and makes the government look dishonest, Rogan stated that Donald Trump administration’s lack of transparency hurts public trust.
The newly released portion of the Epstein files is heavily redacted, with some pages being entirely blacked out.
The 119-page grand jury document is entirely redacted. pic.twitter.com/xz5q0U27Jz
— Pop Base (@PopBase) December 19, 2025
Further discussing rumors of a torture video that was allegedly sent to Jeffrey Epstein by Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the UFC commentator asked “Why is his name redacted? Why would your name be redacted if you’re not a victim?”
“Like, this is what’s crazy about all this. How come you redact some people and you don’t redact other people? Like, what is this? This is not good. None of this is good for this administration.” Rogan continued.
So far, the files connected to Epstein case have been released in parts by the United States Department of Justice. And while millions of documents have been made public, officials have also admitted that more files exist that may never be released.
This information led to anger and frustration in Joe Rogan, who believes the public deserves the full truth. Thus referring to Trump’s claims that the Epstein files were part of a “Democrat-inspired hoax”, the 58-year-old podcaster said the situation clearly shows that the case was real and serious.
“It looks terrible for Trump when he was saying that none of this was real. This is all a hoax. This is not a hoax. Like, did you not know? Maybe he didn’t know, if you want to be charitable, but this is definitely not a hoax,” the podcaster argued.
He continued to say, “And if you’ve got redacted people’s names and these people aren’t victims, you’re not protecting the victim. So, what are you doing? And how come all this s— is not released?”
Joe Rogan says he ended up in the Epstein files after refusing an offer to meet Jeffrey Epstein in person in 2017: “I’m in the files for not going.”
“Jeffrey Epstein was trying to meet with me. And I was like, what? Like, no thanks. It’s not even a possibility that I would’ve… pic.twitter.com/wLWgHAXkbY
— Variety (@Variety) February 12, 2026
The Justice Department recently released over 3.5 million files from the investigation, although there are roughly 6 million files in total. Interestingly Rogan himself appeared in the Epstein files.
However, he explained that he was mentioned because he refused to meet Epstein. Speaking with podcast guest Cheryl Hines, on an episode of Joe Rogan Experience, the 58-year-old UFC commentator recalled Epstein once tried to contact him for a meeting, but he declined after researching him online.
