THE DAILY BS: HOW MUCH CAN YOU HANDLE?
SPARE ME THE BS (I’ve got things to do).
- Bill Maher told viewers that Donald Trump never yelled, interrupted or lost his temper during their second White House dinner, but Maher admitted his own manners weren’t as impressive.
- The HBO host defended meeting Trump face-to-face and delivered an expletive-filled response to critics of their renewed relationship.
- During an interview with Karoline Leavitt, Maher praised Trump’s willingness to listen even while sharply criticizing his foreign policy.
LAY IT ON ME (I’ve got time).
Bill Maher went back to the White House for dinner with Donald Trump, and judging by his latest confession, the president wasn’t the one who needed a refresher course in table manners.
That distinction, according to Maher himself, belonged to Maher.
During Friday night’s Real Time, the HBO host described his second dinner with Trump, which lasted four hours and included sports commentator Stephen A. Smith.
Maher acknowledged that Trump remained composed throughout their exchanges, despite the comedian unloading complaints about everything from immigration enforcement and the Supreme Court to foreign policy and administration personnel.
Trump didn’t yell. He didn’t interrupt. And according to Maher, he didn’t lose his temper.
Maher admitted that he, on the other hand, interrupted the president.
Apparently, the fellow famous for political insults and late-night wisecracks encountered a White House dinner guest who wasn’t interested in returning every volley.
And Maher wasn’t finished surprising his audience.
During a subsequent interview with former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, the comedian discussed the president’s willingness to hear differing opinions.
“He does listen,” Maher declared, adding that Trump makes eye contact, avoids interrupting and doesn’t become angry during White House conversations.
Coming from a longtime Trump critic, that’s quite a description of the president’s private conversational style.
Leavitt agreed, describing a president who solicits opinions throughout the room, from junior employees to senior advisers, before making decisions.
But Maher wasn’t suddenly auditioning for a position in the Trump administration.
He criticized the president’s Russia policy and treatment of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during the same interview, calling Trump’s approach unconscionable.
And during his opening monologue, Maher made clear he wasn’t particularly interested in receiving permission from his critics to have dinner with the president.
“I like these dinners!” he declared, with an additional profanity directed at the audience members and political commentators who objected.
His argument was straightforward: He gets to confront the president in person about issues that other people criticize from a distance.
Maher also reminded viewers of his previous encounter with Trump in 2025, when he described the president as gracious and measured behind closed doors.
That first dinner produced its own political fireworks. The two men subsequently returned to trading public insults, with Trump blasting Maher’s television program and Maher responding in kind.
Yet there they were again, sitting down for another lengthy conversation.
Maher even cracked a joke about the treatment he received, saying he couldn’t have been treated better if he were Russian.
There was another unexpected admission in Friday’s monologue: Maher said he enjoyed visiting the White House.
For a comedian who has spent years making a living criticizing Trump, that’s an interesting development.
He still opposes plenty of the president’s policies. Trump still has a habit of firing back when Maher criticizes him.
But now Maher has twice returned from the White House describing a considerably more patient dinner companion than the combative political figure viewers regularly see on television.
And this time, he volunteered that the person who could have used a lesson in etiquette was himself.
DBS WIRE SOURCES (I’ve got all day).
- Mediaite — Bill Maher praises Trump
- TheWrap — Maher defends his second dinner with Trump
- Real Time with Bill Maher — First White House visit discussion
- Mediaite — Maher’s account of his first Trump dinner
