Bill Maher has bragged about a dramatic change in his complicated relationship with President Donald Trump.
Maher, 70, was invited to the White House in 2025 for a dinner with Trump brokered by their mutual friend Kid Rock. After the event, Maher said Trump was “gracious and measured,” and not like the “person who plays a crazy person on TV.”
Relations between the pair have not gone smoothly since. In a lengthy Truth Social rant in February, Trump called Maher a “lightweight” and “ANTI TRUMP,” The president also said it was “a total waste of time for me to have this jerk at the White House.”
Maher compared Trump to a “redneck” emperor over his UFC birthday bash in June and said the 80-year-old president had done “things that are racist, misogynistic, anti-democratic and corrupt.”
As recently as September, Trump put Maher on blast on Truth Social, calling out his ratings for Real Time. “Bill Maher’s ratings are so low that it is hard to believe his show can continue,” Trump posted. “In many ways it’s SAD because, in actuality, I like him. Republicans should stop using him as a sounding board, however. It makes them look sooo weak and foolish!”
However, during Monday’s episode of his Club Random podcast, Maher revealed that another White House dinner is imminent.
Maher spoke with Hollywood power agent Ari Emanuel, also a friend of Trump, when talk turned to their individual relationships with the president.
“I’m having dinner with him again next week,” Maher bragged to Emanuel, who told the comedian that he, in turn, was having conversations with Trump over a “rebate I think needs to happen for California and for the country.... and he’s on board with it.”
Emanuel added of Trump, “He’s 80 years old, this guy, and I don’t know if you felt it, he’s a workaholic.”
Maher laughed and said, “Well, in his way. And a lot of that work is toward things we don’t approve of.” The comic added, “And we’ll tell him.”
The podcast host then remarked, “It’s so weird, after the first dinner, you know, I went back to doing what I do,” referencing his public commentary on Trump.
Emanuel said, “He probably screamed at you,” with Maher saying, “It never stops. He tried to stop me from getting the Mark Twain award.”
Ahead of the announcement that Maher would receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, Trump’s communications director Steven Cheung claimed it was “Literally FAKE NEWS.” Maher received the award in June, and Trump did not attend the event.
On the red carpet, Maher said he was not shocked by the Trump administration’s reaction to his award.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if it happens again before the show starts,” Maher said at the time. “Anything could happen.”
Speaking on Monday’s Club Random, Maher explained Trump’s latest peace offering, sharing text exchanges between himself and the president.
“Then, like, he just, out of the blue, `Let’s have dinner again.’ I was like, ‘Great.’ And he was really nice. Like, `I promise I won’t say bad things about you like I did the last time.’ And I texted back, and I said, ‘You know what, you’re the president of the United States. Say whatever the f--- you want’.”
Maher added, “I’m just glad we’re talking.’ It’s like being called a ‘hockey puck’ by Don Rickles. It’s just what he does. It’s how he talks.”
Emanuel suggested to Maher, “There are some people you won’t talk to, there’s some people I won’t talk to.”
Maher said, “Yeah, but they’re not the president of the United States.”
The comedian added, “It blows my mind that there are people in this world, and lots of them on the far left, who just would turn this opportunity down, a private dinner, in the White House, with the president, just a few people, say whatever you want.”
Maher continued, “I’ve heard people say ‘I don’t like the war...’ Tell him! You can tell him. And I will. I keep telling people, he needs more people like us, not less.”
As the two men kept discussing their interactions with the president, Maher said, “There’s a way to talk to Donald Trump. There just is.”
Maher said after he shared details of their first dinner, he was told he was “humanizing” Trump by critics.
“OK, he’s a human,” Maher said. “I get it, he’s a very flawed one, as are we all under Jesus.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
Obsessed with pop culture and entertainment? Follow us on Substack and YouTube for even more coverage.
