Has Howard Stern addressed his past interviews with Donald Trump recently?
Executive summary
Howard Stern has publicly said he will not replay his roughly 50 archived interviews with Donald Trump, calling it “a betrayal” to guests and noting those appearances were done for entertainment on the record [1]. Stern has also criticized Trump publicly in recent years, describing him as a different, less candid guest once he ran for president and saying Trump “did not want to be president” [2] [3].
1. Stern’s most direct recent action: he won’t air the old Trump tapes
On Nov. 30, 2023, The Associated Press reported Stern told listeners on SiriusXM that he won’t dig into his archives to replay the roughly 50 interviews he conducted with Trump, explaining the interviews were done “in an effort to be entertaining” and that replaying them while Trump is under attack would be “a betrayal to any of our guests” [1]. Stern contrasted those on‑air conversations with private recordings like the Billy Bush tape, noting his interviews were public when aired [1].
2. Stern frames those interviews as entertainment, not private confession
Stern has repeatedly characterized his Trump interviews as broadcast entertainment that showcased a candid, unfiltered persona. Good Morning America and Rolling Stone cite Stern’s long history with Trump as a prolific guest who “would say anything,” and Stern has said Trump was “as unguarded as any human being” on his show before running for office [3] [2]. Those same sources report Stern’s view that Trump changed once he sought the presidency [2].
3. Stern has publicly criticized Trump since the campaign and presidency
Beyond the decision about tapes, Stern’s public posture toward Trump has turned critical. Rolling Stone reported Stern saying “deep down he did not want to be president” and offering an unflattering psychological read of Trump’s motives and temperament [2]. Media accounts also note Stern has been outspoken about Trump and his supporters in the years since the campaign [4].
4. Trump’s response and the political back‑and‑forth
Trump has in turn attacked Stern, saying the host “went woke” and “down the tubes” as their relationship deteriorated after Stern declined to speak at the Republican National Convention and voiced political preferences [5]. Deadline and other outlets document how interactions between the two shifted from mutual access to public criticism and partisan sparring [6] [5].
5. Media and fact‑checking attention to old Stern clips
News organizations and fact‑checkers have re‑examined specific Stern-era moments involving Trump. CNN and Business Insider helped surface crude Trump comments from Stern-era interviews during the 2016 campaign, and Snopes later investigated viral clips from a 2006 Stern segment that were shared and debated online, concluding portions of such clips were authentic though context and completeness vary across circulating versions [7] [8] [9].
6. Competing perspectives: protection of archive vs. public interest
Stern’s stated reason for withholding the tapes—protecting guests and not using archival clips to “attack” someone—frames the choice as ethical stewardship of his archives [1]. Critics or some newsrooms have argued that the historical record of a major political figure’s public statements matters for voter information; CNN’s earlier compilation of Stern interviews with Trump reflected that public‑interest angle [7]. Available sources do not mention a legal or contract reason for Stern’s decision; they focus on ethics and context [1].
7. What reporting does not say (limitations and open questions)
Available sources do not mention whether Stern has reviewed all archive material himself recently or whether any individual clips will be released under specific circumstances; the public statements cited present a policy stance rather than a forensic inventory of all tapes [1]. Sources also do not report any new sit‑down between Stern and Trump after Stern’s 2019–2024 critical comments; reporting documents only Stern’s public commentary and Trump’s retaliatory remarks [3] [5].
8. Bottom line — Stern has addressed the past interviews, but selectively
Howard Stern has addressed his past Trump interviews directly by refusing to replay them and by offering retrospective commentary that Trump was once candid on his show but later changed as a political figure [1] [2]. Both Stern and Trump have used media appearances to shape the public narrative about their past relationship; outlets including AP, CNN, Rolling Stone and Business Insider document those competing narratives and the ongoing debate over context, public interest and archive ethics [1] [7] [2] [8].