President Trump recently conceded that his administration isn’t very effective at public relations, especially when discussing the highly controversial work of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He admitted in an interview, as reported by The Hill, that while he thinks the agency is doing incredible work, the messaging around that work is where the team struggles.
“What happens is that, I think we do a phenomenal job, but I don’t think we’re good at public relations,” President Trump stated. It’s interesting to hear the president admit that the messaging side needs serious work, even if he still firmly believes in the underlying action. He seems convinced that the public would support ICE if they just understood the facts better, which is classic PR thinking.
The president’s remarks came after the interviewer brought up the harsh criticism leveled by popular podcast host Joe Rogan. Rogan publicly blasted ICE’s aggressive tactics last month, prompting the anchor to ask President Trump about the host’s comparison of the agency to Nazi Germany’s secret police, the Gestapo.
It looks like the administration has a lot of work to do if it wants to improve public perception of its immigration agency
Rogan didn’t pull any punches when describing his concerns about the increasing militarization of enforcement. He worried about the implications of having “militarized people in the streets just roaming around, snatching up people, many of which turn out to be U.S. citizens that just don’t have their papers on them.” Rogan questioned the entire approach, asking, “Are we really going to be the Gestapo, ‘Where’s your papers?’ Is that what we’ve come to?”
Interestingly, President Trump didn’t lash out at Rogan for such a severe historical comparison. Instead, he heaped praise on the host, calling him “a great guy.” The president went on to highlight Rogan’s success. He noted their pre-election interview was a “tremendous success” and possibly Rogan’s “biggest interview ever.”
President Trump confirmed that he and Rogan had a “great conversation” just three days before the interview, noting they touched on the issues surrounding ICE enforcement “a little bit.” The president sounded genuinely positive about their relationship, saying, “I think he’s a great guy, and I think he likes me too.”
If the president needed concrete evidence that the public relations strategy is failing, the recent national polls are certainly providing it. The numbers are frankly brutal and show widespread disapproval. One recent survey focusing on the administration’s overall immigration policy found that only 39 percent of respondents approved of President Trump’s handling of the issue. A majority, 53 percent, said they disapproved.
Another survey focused specifically on ICE’s actions. The results showed that a huge 62 percent of respondents felt that the agency’s activities have simply gone too far. When nearly two-thirds of the country thinks your enforcement is excessive, you definitely have a massive PR problem on your hands, regardless of how “phenomenal” you think the job is behind the scenes.
Published: Feb 5, 2026 12:00 pm