The comic recounted the assembly organized by Child Rock, saying it provided a uncommon break from political animosity.
The dinner, which Maher described throughout Friday’s episode of his weekly present “Actual Time With Invoice Maher,” was organized by musician Child Rock, a mutual pal of each males. It passed off roughly two weeks prior on the White Home and was supposed, he mentioned, as an effort to foster dialogue somewhat than division.
Maher opened the section by dismissing recommendations that the assembly was a political summit.
“I’ve no energy. I’m a comic,” he mentioned, emphasizing that the dinner was not about brokering offers however exploring widespread floor between ideological opponents.
“No, I didn’t go MAGA,” Maher instructed his viewers, noting that there was no stress to take action.
As an alternative, he mentioned he was met by a model of the president he believed was totally different from his public persona.
“The man I met just isn’t the one who, the evening earlier than, tweeted a bunch of nasty crap,” Maher mentioned. “However once I bought there, that man wasn’t dwelling there.”
He added that Maher would possible proceed to criticize him publicly, no matter what occurred privately.
“Who is aware of, although, perhaps I’ll be confirmed fallacious? In any occasion, I’m doing a favor for a pal,” he wrote.
Maher introduced up that put up in his dialogue, saying that he instructed the president he was fallacious when he mentioned the evening earlier than the dinner that he was vital of all issues the president had executed.
“Not true, test the tapes,” he mentioned.
“Shifting Israel’s embassy to Jerusalem? Cherished it. The border did must be managed. I’m glad the cops are getting their morale again. DEI had gone too far. Organic males shouldn’t be taking part in ladies’s sports activities. Europe ought to pay for his or her protection. And naturally, it is sensible that Arab nations ought to absorb Arab refugees—just like the million Syrians who wound up in Germany—when Saudi Arabia took none.”
Through the dinner itself, Maher mentioned the dialog ranged from coverage issues comparable to Iran’s nuclear program to the state of affairs in Gaza. Maher mentioned the president was real in his inquiries and didn’t turn out to be defensive when challenged.
Maher mentioned there have been many moments the place he joked or contradicted the president, however that he “took it in” and “didn’t get mad or name me a left-wing lunatic.”
One standout second got here when Trump referenced a previous authorized dispute involving Maher, through which the comic had jokingly mentioned the president’s father was an orangutan. Maher mentioned he used the gag to counter Trump’s “birther” claims about President Barack Obama not being born in the US. The president reportedly responded with a smile.
Maher mentioned that his views had not modified.
“I’ll be vital about lots of what he’s doing,” he mentioned. “However I additionally suppose he now understands I’ve a job to do.”
The dialog, based on Maher, was candid and even humorous. At one level, the president joked about President Ronald Reagan’s hair being his very best quality, based on Maher. Maher replied that Reagan additionally helped deliver down communism.
“A loopy individual doesn’t dwell within the White Home,” Maher mentioned. “An individual who performs a loopy individual on TV rather a lot lives there.”
President Donald Trump, accompanied by entertainer Child Rock, indicators an government order within the Oval Workplace of the White Home on March 31, 2025. Andrew Harnik/Getty Pictures
Trump has not made any public remarks concerning the dinner because it occurred.