Bill Maher told liberal critics he will keep taking White House dinner invites from President Trump, saying he likes the meetings and will not apologize for them.
The HBO host used his opening monologue on "Real Time" Friday to answer backlash over another night at the White House with President Donald Trump. The Oct. 15 dinner also included sports commentator Stephen A. Smith and musician Kid Rock.
Fox News Digital reported that Maher made no effort to soften the message. He owned the second visit and framed the criticism as noise he is willing to ignore.
"Yeah, I did it again, b****es," Maher said.
"You know what? F--- you. I like these dinners."
That was the core of it. A longtime liberal voice chose conversation with a Republican president over the approval of his own side, and he said so out loud.
This was not Maher’s first trip. He dined at the White House in April 2025 with Trump, Kid Rock, and UFC CEO Dana White. After that meal he went back to his usual on-air criticism. Then Trump invited him again.
On his "Club Random" podcast earlier this month, Maher told Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel the second dinner was already set.
"I'm having dinner with him again next week," Maher said. He described Trump reaching out "out of the blue" and being "really nice" about it.
Maher also shared a text exchange. He said Trump essentially joked that he would not attack him the way he had after the first dinner. Maher’s reply treated the president like a president.
"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 Trump’s style to old-school insult comedy: "It's like being called a 'hockey puck' by Don Rickles. It's just what he does. It's how he talks."
President Trump told reporters the evening went well.
"The dinner last night with Kid Rock and Stephen A. [Smith] and Bill Maher was great. I think they had a good time."
Trump added that they "talked about everything" and that the conversation "lasted a long time." He also said Maher "likes me a lot more than people understand."
Maher has not become a surrogate. After the first dinner he still mocked Trump’s Iran deal framework, joking, "We got everything we wanted except for everything we asked for." He keeps the right to criticize. He also keeps the right to sit down when the president asks.
After that first meal he told viewers he was not spinning.
"You can hate me for it, but I’m not a liar. Trump was gracious and measured."
"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."
Jason Mudd, CEO of Axia Public Relations, told Fox News Digital that Maher handled the predictable pile-on the smart way.
"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’s counsel was simple: sound like yourself.
"If Bill Maher were my client, I'd advise him to keep sounding like himself. A host who sounds like a surrogate loses credibility. Maher sounded like Maher, so that risk stays low."
He added that "comedians win by joking first, not by clarifying," and that "naming the backlash before his critics do takes much of their power away." Repetition is the remaining risk, Mudd said, because every new dinner invites the same questions.
Maher already answered those questions. He likes the dinners. He will take the next invite. He will still throw punches on the air when he disagrees. That combination drives a certain kind of liberal critic crazy, because it refuses the rule that contact with Trump equals betrayal.
In a media culture that rewards permanent outrage, a comedian who will sit at the table and then report what he actually saw is doing something rarer than another monologue joke. Voters notice when public figures treat the other side as radioactive. Maher just declined to play along.
