Comedian Bill Maher used his Friday night monologue on HBO’s “Real Time” to push back against critics upset over his second dinner with President Trump at the White House.
“Yeah, I did it again, bitches,” Maher said, referring to the Oct. 15 dinner, which also included sports commentator Stephen A. Smith and musician Kid Rock. It followed Maher’s first dinner with Trump in April 2025.
Maher didn’t stop there. “You know what? F— you. I like these dinners,” he told his audience.
Trump had already spoken publicly about the gathering, telling reporters, “The dinner last night with Kid Rock and Stephen A. [Smith] and Bill Maher was great. I think they had a good time.” The president added that Maher “likes me a lot more than people understand” and said “we talked about everything. It lasted a long time.”
Maher had previewed the dinner days earlier on his “Club Random” podcast, telling Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel: “I’m having dinner with him again next week.”
“After the first dinner, I went back to doing what I do … But then, like, he just, out of the blue, let’s have dinner again. And I was like, great. And he was really nice,” Maher said.
Maher recounted a text exchange with Trump in which the president reportedly told him, “I promise I won’t say bad things about you like I did the last time.” Maher said he replied: “You know what, you’re the president of the United States. Say whatever the f— you want. I’m just glad we’re talking.” He compared it to insult comic Don Rickles calling someone a “hockey puck,” saying, “It’s just what he does. It’s how he talks.”
Maher’s first dinner with Trump, in April 2025, also included Kid Rock and UFC CEO Dana White. Afterward, Maher told his audience he may have misjudged Trump’s private demeanor. “You can hate me for it, but I’m not a liar. Trump was gracious and measured,” he said at the time. “And why isn’t that in other settings? I don’t know, and I can’t answer, and it’s not my place to answer. I’m just telling you what I saw, and I wasn’t high.”
That doesn’t mean Maher has gone easy on Trump’s policies. In June, he mocked the administration’s Iran deal, noting Trump had demanded “unconditional surrender” before settling for a memorandum of understanding that the White House nonetheless promoted as a win. “We got everything we wanted except for everything we asked for,” Maher said.
A Calculated Response?
Jason Mudd, CEO of Axia Public Relations, told Fox News Digital that Maher’s Friday monologue appeared to be a prepared response rather than an off-the-cuff reaction. “Maher walked in with a plan. His Friday monologue showed it. I said last week that each event guest needs a prepared message in anticipation of public criticism,” Mudd said.
Mudd argued that Maher’s directness helps him hold on to an audience skeptical of his dealings with Trump. “If Bill Maher were my client, I’d advise him to keep sounding like himself. A host who sounds like a surrogate loses credibility,” he said. “Maher sounded like Maher, so that risk stays low. Repetition is the next risk, because each new dinner invites the same questions.”
“Comedians win by joking first, not by clarifying,” Mudd added. “Naming the backlash before his critics do takes much of their power away.”
