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Podcast host and UFC commentary staple Joe Rogan has compared ICE to Nazi Germany’s secret police during an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience released Tuesday, marking a departure from his previous support for President Donald Trump.
Rogan made the comparison during a conversation with Republican Senator Rand Paul, questioning the tactics used by ICE agents during recent operations in Minneapolis.
“Are we really gonna be the Gestapo? ‘Where’s your papers?’ Is that what we’ve come to?” Rogan asked. The podcaster, who endorsed Trump in November 2024, expressed concern about armed federal agents patrolling residential areas and detaining individuals who cannot immediately produce proof of citizenship.
Joe Rogan Breaks With Donald Trump Over ICE Tactics, Draws Gestapo Parallel
The comments followed the January 7, 2026 fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen and mother of three, by ICE agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis. Rogan called the incident “horrific,” stating, “It’s very ugly to watch someone shoot a U.S. citizen, especially a woman, in the face.” He challenged the administration’s claim that the shooting was justified, noting that video footage appeared to show Good turning her vehicle away from the agent when he fired three shots.
The Gestapo served as Nazi Germany’s secret state police from 1933 to 1945. The organization operated above the law with authority to arrest, interrogate, and imprison individuals without judicial oversight, creating an atmosphere of fear through its demand that citizens produce identification on demand. Rogan’s comparison drew on this historical parallel, suggesting that when government agents can require identification from anyone at any time.
During the podcast, Rogan acknowledged understanding both perspectives on ICE operations while expressing reservations about the agency’s methods. “I can see both sides,” he said, noting that while some support ICE’s enforcement role, others object to “militarized people in the streets just roaming around, snatching up people, many of whom turn out to be U.S. citizens that just don’t have their papers on them.”
Comparing ICE and the Gestapo
Rogan is not the first prominent figure to draw parallels between ICE and the Nazi secret police. Stephen Lynch and New Jersey State Senator Britnee Timberlake have made similar comparisons, with Timberlake stating during a January 2026 committee hearing, “If you don’t believe me, just ask the children of the 37-year-old woman from Minnesota, a white American citizen, who was just shot and killed by ICE.”
Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura made the most scathing comparison when he visited his alma mater, Roosevelt High School, on January 8, 2026, one day after the Renee Good shooting. Ventura called ICE “the draft-dodging coward’s Gestapo” and explicitly instructed the public to “read your history of Germany and start comparing the tactics of what happened in 1930s Germany to what’s happening here.”
The Minneapolis shooting
The Minneapolis shooting occurred during Operation Metro Surge, which the Department of Homeland Security described as “the largest immigration enforcement operation ever carried out.” The operation, which began in December 2025, deployed approximately 2,000 federal agents to the Twin Cities area.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended the shooting, claiming Good “weaponized her vehicle” and attempted to run over ICE officers in what Noem called “an act of domestic terrorism.” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey disputed this characterization, calling it “bulls—” and demanding ICE leave the city.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, along with Minneapolis and Saint Paul, filed a lawsuit on January 11 seeking to halt Operation Metro Surge, alleging violations of the First and Tenth Amendments.
Pastor Kenny Callaghan, who joined protests after the shooting, told local media he was detained by ICE agents who pointed a gun at his face and repeatedly asked if he was afraid. Callaghan said agents eventually released him, telling him, “You’re white, and you wouldn’t be any fun anyway.” The pastor stated the encounter revealed that “these ICE raids are really about fear and intimidation.”
Rogan’s comments are another piece of growing criticism from public figures who previously supported Trump. During the podcast, Rogan stated that ICE agents are now viewed as “murderous military people that are on the streets of our cities and they’re masked up, which is a problem.”
The UFC and Donald Trump
The UFC, longtime employer of Rogan, and Donald Trump share one of the most established relationships in modern sports and politics. Dana White, UFC president, spoke at Trump’s Republican National Conventions in 2016, 2020, and 2024, sitting front-row at his 2025 inauguration, and serving as one of Trump’s most vocal celebrity endorsers. Trump, in turn, has attended numerous UFC events throughout both presidential terms and has proposed hosting a championship fight on the White House South Lawn on June 14, 2026, his 80th birthday.
