Comedian Bill Maher pushed back hard against liberal critics Friday after attending his second dinner with President Donald Trump at the White House, telling his HBO audience he has no regrets about accepting the invitation.
During his opening monologue on “Real Time,” Maher confirmed he dined with Trump on Oct. 15, joined by sports commentator Stephen A. Smith and musician Kid Rock. “Yeah, I did it again, b—-es,” Maher said, addressing the criticism head-on.
He made clear he was not apologizing. “You know what? F— you. I like these dinners,” Maher said.
Trump himself spoke favorably about the evening when asked by reporters last week. “The dinner last night with Kid Rock and Stephen A. [Smith] and Bill Maher was great,” Trump said. “I think they had a good time.” The president added that Maher “likes me a lot more than people understand,” and said the two “talked about everything” over a conversation that “lasted a long time.”
Maher had previewed the dinner earlier in October during a conversation with Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel on his “Club Random” podcast. He described Trump’s invitation as unexpected after their first meeting in April 2025. “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 in which Trump promised not to criticize him the way he had after the first dinner. “I promise I won’t say bad things about you like I did the last time,” Maher recalled Trump saying. Maher said he responded: “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 the dynamic to being insulted by the late comedian Don Rickles, calling it “just what he does. It’s how he talks.”
The first dinner, in April 2025, also included Kid Rock and UFC CEO Dana White. Afterward, Maher told his audience he may have misread Trump’s public persona. “You can hate me for it, but I’m not a liar. Trump was gracious and measured,” Maher 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.”
Despite the dinners, Maher has not softened his public criticism of Trump’s policies. In June, he mocked the administration’s handling of the 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, PR Expert Says
Jason Mudd, CEO of Axia Public Relations, told Fox News Digital that Maher’s Friday monologue appeared to reflect a deliberate strategy to confront the backlash rather than avoid it. “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, rather than a defensive posture, likely helps him keep his audience’s trust. “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.”
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