President Trump signs executive order on psychedelic drugs with Joe Rogan
Podcaster Joe Rogan accompanied President Trump in the Oval Office as he signed an executive order aimed at accelerating research into psychedelics.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order accelerating research into psychedelics to treat veterans after receiving a call from podcast host Joe Rogan.
President Trump said Logan encouraged him to research how drugs can help veterans battling suicide and depression.
President Trump signed the executive order on April 18, telling reporters, “I am pleased to announce historic reforms that will dramatically accelerate access to new medical research and treatments based on psychedelics.”
“A lot of people called me, including the great Joe Rogan, and he said we have to do something about this, and I thought about it,” Trump said in the Oval Office, surrounded by Rogan and other advocates for drug use for veterans, including Robert O’Neill, the former Navy SEAL who claims to have killed Osama bin Laden.
An executive order signed by President Trump sets out to accelerate research into the drug, directing the Food and Drug Administration to expedite research into drugs containing the plant-based hallucinogen ibogaine. Each state would also pay $50 million to research the drug.
Logan said he became convinced of the usefulness of psychedelics when he was interviewed on a podcast by former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Brian Hubbard, who heads the group Americans Defending Ibogaine.
“They told us how effective this drug was,” he said in a podcast interview, “and millions of people had the opportunity to hear their stories. It gave us the opportunity to hear the stories of different people who had life-changing experiences.”
There is growing scientific evidence that psychedelics have a positive impact on the mental state of military veterans, who face much higher suicide rates than the general population. President Trump referenced a 2024 study from Stanford University that showed ibogaine improved depression and anxiety in veterans with traumatic brain injuries.
Mr. Logan and Mr. O’Neal are also among the podcast personalities who have voiced criticism of President Trump’s war with Iran. After signing the executive order, Trump said hours earlier that Iran would not open the Strait of Hormuz and that “very good dialogue continues” with Iran, even though it has not publicly agreed to return to talks with the Trump administration.
Days before his appearance with President Trump, Mr. Rogan used an expletive to say on his podcast that all wars are “horrible.” “How is this still going on?” he said.
O’Neill also criticized the Iran war earlier this month. “I didn’t think that was a presidential act,” O’Neill said after President Trump threatened to destroy “an entire civilization” if Iran didn’t open the Strait of Hormuz.
O’Neal appeared on Piers Morgan’s Uncensored show on April 7 and said, “I know it’s very difficult to be around President Trump and communicate my disagreements.” “I know the guy and we had dinner together at the White House. But somebody should step up to something like this.”
“It’s far from possible to destroy an entire civilization.”
President Trump’s war with Iran has created a rift with his MAGA movement, which advocates “America first” and anti-interventionism. During his presidential campaign, President Trump said the Iraq war was a mistake and that the United States should not start another war in the Middle East.
