Joe Rogan said Donald Trump’s proposed $1.8 billion Department of Justice fund deal is “crazy,” reacting to terms that would end a $10 billion lawsuit and bar the government from further reviews tied to Trump Organization, his presidency, and his family’s fina
Joe Rogan didn’t beat around the bush when he heard the terms of Donald Trump’s proposed $1.8 billion Department of Justice fund deal.
On a recent episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” the podcaster reacted to the agreement—described as a switch in which Trump would drop his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS and Treasury in exchange for the fund—calling it “so crazy.”
To Rogan, the logic behind the bargain didn’t just sound strange. It sounded backwards. He compared it to a nightmare scenario: “Imagine like somebody accused you of murder. yeah. and turns out you weren’t guilty of that murder and then you sue them and you go. ‘You can never prosecute me for murder again.’ And then you just go straight Uday Hussein. ” referring to Uday Hussein. the son of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
Under the agreement. Trump says the Department of Justice fund would reimburse those targeted by past administrations. including certain January 6 defendants. The deal also could stop the IRS from looking into Trump’s family’s prior tax returns. with an addendum ending any ongoing investigations or audits into his own finances.
That’s the part that left Rogan repeating the same verdict after more details came up: “This is crazy,” he said again.
The written terms are even more sweeping. A one-page document signed by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche lays out that the U.S. would be “forever barred and precluded” from any “examinations or similar or related reviews” of the Trump Organization. the president. or his two sons. It also blocks “any matters that were raised or could have been raised” in Trump’s lawsuit. along with “any matters currently pending or that could be pending.”.
For tax experts, the stakes aren’t theoretical. PBS reported that experts were shocked by how much protection the directive gives Trump and his family. Former IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel argued Trump should be held to the same standard as every other American. saying. “This is an unprecedented remedy. ” and adding. “People expect the same tax rules and enforcement framework to apply to everybody.”.
Rogan isn’t the only one drawing a bright line in the sand. The fund proposal has drawn criticism from both sides of the aisle, including from senior Republicans in Congress.
GOP Senator Mitch McConnell said, “So the nation’s top law enforcement official is asking for a slush fund to pay people who assault cops? Utterly stupid, morally wrong — Take your pick,” framing the idea as an improper use of power.
What makes the controversy land so hard—especially for Rogan—is how quickly a legal fight over the past collides with protections for the future. The underlying lawsuit, after all, traces back to Trump’s tax returns being leaked to the New York Times in 2018.
And now the proposal on the table would not just end that case. It would, in the document’s own language, place broad limits on what the government can examine going forward—turning the question from “what happened” into “what can be checked.”
Joe Rogan Donald Trump $1.8 billion Department of Justice fund Todd Blanche IRS lawsuit January 6 defendants Mitch McConnell Daniel Werfel The Joe Rogan Experience tax returns leak PBS