After spending countless hours on podcasts during his campaign, President Donald Trump returned the favor by inviting prominent podcast hosts to the White House.
Among those invited to a private event Thursday were former ESPN personality Sage Steele, Daily Wire host Michael Knowles, and Dr. Drew Pinsky, the White House confirmed to the Washington Examiner.
As the 2024 election drew to a close, Trump dedicated much of his campaign time to podcasting. He spent two or even three hours on podcasts with hosts such as comedian Theo Von, wrestler Logan Paul, streamer Adin Ross, and UFC commentator Joe Rogan.
Trump’s teenage son Barron Trump encouraged him to do the podcasts, which were intended to showcase him in a casual setting before an audience of young men.
“He knows you very well,” the president told Von. “He said, ‘Dad, he’s big.’”
Surveys found that men aged 29 and younger supported Trump by a more than 10-point margin, so getting them interested in the election was crucial to winning. Young women, on the other hand, preferred former Vice President Kamala Harris by a nearly 40-point margin.
Trump won, and some of those same hosts are now being feted inside the executive mansion.
“Fun day planned…” Knowles posted on X accompanied by the image of his name printed on a desk, presumably inside the White House.
Fun day planned…
pic.twitter.com/n4DcM9mR1h
— Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) March 27, 2025
For the podcast hosts and their millions of followers, the event will likely translate into more positive coverage of the Trump administration as it moves beyond the honeymoon period and tries to keep voters in its corner.
The podcaster event came after Trump last month invited social media influencers to the White House, a tactic also embraced by former President Joe Biden.
Trump hits the podcast circuit to bring young men to the polls
However, Trump took things a step further. He not only invited new media figures into the White House but kicked an old one out as well. The podcast event came on the same day the Associated Press argued in court that Trump exercised viewpoint discrimination by banning it from the Oval Office and Air Force One.
The outlet drew Trump’s ire after repeatedly referring to the Gulf of America as the Gulf of Mexico after the president issued an executive order renaming the body of water.
