Introduction: Trump

Two campaign officials said former President Donald
J. Trump will record an interview Friday with the podcast
that is popular with young men,
a demographic that likes him but might not vote.

Former President Donald J. Trump will record an interview on Friday with
Joe Rogan, an enormously popular podcast host,
according to two campaign officials who
spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The interview may be the apex of
Mr. Trump’s recent media strategy, which has
included appearances on a number of podcasts
that cater to young men. Polls show the demographic favors Mr.
Trump, but they are generally low-propensity voters.

Mr. Rogan’s podcast,
“The Joe Rogan Experience,”
will provide significant access to that audience:
The comedian and sports commentator has a
following in the tens of millions that leans young and male.
The reach of his show is big enough that
Mr. Trump is willing to take a break from
touring battleground states in the final two
weeks of the campaign to interview in person in Texas,
where Mr. Rogan is based, according to one of the
officials, who was not authorized to discuss the plans publicly.

In the past, Mr. Rogan has expressed skepticism of
establishment politicians and criticized
Mr. Trump. Just two years ago, he said that he had
repeatedly refused to host Mr. Trump on his podcast,
describing him as “a polarizing figure” and “an existential threat to democracy.”

Earlier this year, he called Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,
who was then running as an independent candidate,
“the only one that makes sense to me.” As supporters of
Mr. Trump turned on him, Mr. Rogan later clarified that he
was not endorsing Mr. Kennedy, who ultimately dropped out and backed Mr. Trump.

Mr. Trump, too, complained about Mr. Rogan at the time

“It will be interesting to see how loudly Joe Rogan gets
BOOED the next time he enters the UFC Ring,”
he wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, in August.

Mr. Rogan has 14.5 million podcast followers on Spotify,
the platform said this year, as well as 19 million followers
on Instagram and 17 million followers on YouTube.