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On Friday's episode of "Real Time," host Bill Maher responded to President Donald Trump's Truth Social post from last week, where he called the late-night host a "jerk" and said it was a "total waste of time" hosting him at the White House last April.
"See, I woke up Saturday morning to a blistering social media text from him. Went on and on. Valentine’s Day, by the way," Maher said. "He was very mad at me because I didn’t get his joke about how China is gonna make Canada give up hockey. You know, I think we’re going to have to workshop that one for a while."
In a lengthy post, the president took aim at Maher over his recent comments mocking Trump for suggesting that China would end all hockey in Canada as the two countries deepen their economic ties.
BILL MAHER CALLS VIEWERS WHO STOPPED WATCHING AFTER HIS TRUMP DINNER 'IDIOTS' IN HEATED DEFENSE
HBO "Real Time" and "Club Random" podcast host Bill Maher said he wasn't worried about Trump targeting him if he wins the 2024 election. (Getty Images)
"Sometimes in life you waste time!" Trump began the post. "T.V. Host Bill Maher asked to have dinner with me through one of his friends, also a friend of mine, and I agreed. He came into the famed Oval Office much different than I thought he would be.
"He was extremely nervous, had ZERO confidence in himself and, to soothe his nerves, immediately, within seconds, asked for a ‘Vodka Tonic.’ He said to me, ‘I’ve never felt like this before, I’m actually scared.’ In one respect, it was somewhat endearing!"
Trump went on to call the "Real Time" host a "highly overrated LIGHTWEIGHT" whose television ratings "are so low that nobody will learn about his various Fake News statements" about him.
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Maher addressed these insults from the president directly, saying, "[Trump] went off on me and said, you know, the dinner we had was a waste of time. Well, I didn’t think it was. And then I’m a jerk, and I’m at low ratings, lightweight, and all this s---. Because I never stopped criticizing him. I never said I would."
The late-night host joked that he now knows "how women feel" when a guy "buys you dinner and then expects you to put out," adding that he's "not that guy."
President Donald Trump and comedian Bill Maher met at the White House for dinner in April 2025. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images; Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images)
Aside from responding to Trump's attacks over him being critical of his administration, Maher also addressed the president's claim that he "immediately" asked for a cocktail upon arriving at the White House.
"And a lot of other stuff he said that wasn’t really true, that, you know, I immediately asked for a drink. OK, ‘he immediately wanted a vodka,’" he recalled. "OK, it was a margarita. It was not a vodka, and it wasn’t immediately. I had a drink before dinner, as people do."
Maher also denied that he was nervous or scared, as Trump claimed in his post.
"He said, I was nervous and scared, no confidence. Bulls---!" he declared. "It’s so funny, because I got so much s--- from the left for reporting honestly that, in person, he was very different, very nice, very gracious. And then he says, ‘No, he was scared.’"
"I’m like the Democrats with an election. I just can’t win!" Maher concluded.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.
In April 2025, Trump ally Kid Rock orchestrated a sit-down dinner between himself, the president, Maher and Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White.
Kid Rock set up the meeting between Maher and Trump at the White House in April. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images for CMT)(Randy Holmes via Getty Images)
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After his visit to the White House, Maher described the meeting with Trump as cordial and even gave the president a few compliments.
"You can hate me for it, but I'm not a liar. Trump was gracious and measured," Maher said. "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."
