Politics
Bill Maher Shares Details On Meeting With President Trump: ‘Gracious And Measured’
“Real Time” host Bill Maher, a longtime Trump critic, revealed that he was pleasantly surprised by the president’s “gracious” and good-humored demeanor when meeting with him at the White House earlier this week.
“You can hate me for it, but I’m not a liar. Trump was gracious and measured,” Maher said during Friday’s episode. “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.”
Maher, 69, had dinner at the White House with Trump, Dana White, Kid Rock and a few other guests after agreeing to a meeting earlier this month. The comedian seemed somewhat surprised by how he was received, telling his liberal audience that he never once felt uncomfortable or unwelcome.
“Everything I’ve not liked about him was, I swear to God, absent. At least on this night, with this guy,” Maher said during his opening monologue.
“I never felt I had to walk on eggshells around him. And honestly, I voted for Clinton and Obama, but I would never feel comfortable talking to them the way I was able to talk with Donald Trump,” the talk show host said, adding, “Make of it what you will.”
Maher, who has criticized the left on numerous issues in recent years but has remained consistent with his opposition to Trump, brought a list of the insults Trump has levied against him over the years. “I brought this to the White House because I wanted him to sign it, which he did … with good humor,” Maher said while holding up the list, which was signed by President Trump.
Photo: HBO
Bill Maher has dinner in the White House with President Donald Trump, Kid Rock and Dana White on March 31, 2025.
“And I know as I say that, millions of liberal sphincters just tightened. ‘Oh, my God, Bill, you gonna say something nice about him?’ What I’m gonna do is report exactly what happened,” Maher said, adding that he felt no pressure to change his opinions during the meeting.
The HBO host went on to note that he found it interesting how often Trump laughs, stating that he had hardly seen him do it in public. “He does, including at himself,” Maher told his audience. “And it’s not fake. Believe me, as a comedian of 40 years, I know a fake laugh when I hear it,” he added.
“Look, I get it. It doesn’t matter who he is at a private dinner with a comedian. It matters who he is on the world stage. I’m just taking as a positive that this person exists. Because everything I’ve ever not liked about him was, I swear to God, absent at least on this night with this guy,” Maher said.
“I’ve had so many conversations with prominent people who are much less connected, people who don’t look you in the eye, people don’t really listen because they just want to get to their next thing… None of that was him, and he mostly steered the conversation to ‘What do you think about this?’ I know, your mind is blown. So is mine.”
Upon the conclusion of the Dinner, Maher said he walked away with nothing from the White House except “hats and a very generous amount of time and a willingness to listen and accept me as a possible friend, even though I’m not MAGA, which was the point of the dinner.”
