Podcaster Joe Rogan claimed on his show that hip-hop's decline in commercial success is linked to the Trump administration's defunding of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), alleging without evidence that the agency had been covertly funding "radical, anti-government rappers overseas" as part of regime-change efforts. The remarks, made on the 13 August episode of The Joe Rogan Experience alongside comedians Shane Gillis, Mark Normand and Ari Shaffir, have fed an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory circulating amid country music's recent dominance of the charts, including Ella Langley's 18-week run atop the Hot 100.

There is no evidence supporting a link between USAID and the funding of rap music. The Trump administration cut more than 80% of USAID-funded programmes in March 2025, according to Reuters, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio stating the cancelled contracts had not served US national interests. Separately, R&B/hip-hop remains the most-consumed music genre overall per Luminate's 2026 midyear report, though its market share has fallen 1.6% since mid-2025, marking its sharpest decline since 2023 on the Billboard 200; Drake is the only hip-hop act to top the Hot 100 so far in 2026.