‘I’m Telling You, It Happened!’: Bill Maher Reveals What Was Said During Private Dinner With Trump

Comedian and HBO host Bill Maher revealed what was said — and what surprised him — when he met with President Donald Trump at the White House nearly two weeks earlier.

Trump had mentioned his plans to have dinner with Maher, saying it “might be fun or it might not,” admitting that the summit had been brokered by mutual friend and musician Kid Rock.

Maher shared his thoughts on the meeting during Friday’s broadcast of “Real Time,” noting that they had certainly not agreed on everything and he “didn’t go MAGA,” but admitting that all of the things he disliked about Trump’s more public persona had been “absent” when they met in person.

WATCH:

Twelve days ago, I had dinner with President Trump, a dinner that my friend @KidRock set up because we share the belief that there has to be something better than hurling insults from 3000 miles away. pic.twitter.com/KE2t2eyBkI

— Bill Maher (@billmaher) April 12, 2025

Maher said that he had, as has been previously reported, printed up a list of about 60 insults that Trump had hurled his way over the years. Trump, he said, signed the printout “with good humor.”

“And I know as I say that, millions of liberal sphincters just tightened. ‘Oh, my God, Bill, you gonna say something nice about him?’ What I’m gonna do is report exactly what happened. You decide what you think about it, and if that’s not enough pure Trump hate for you, I don’t give a f***,” Maher said.

As they toured the White House, Maher said he was surprised to hear Trump say aloud that he had lost the 2020 presidential race.

“I don’t remember exactly what we were talking about, but it must have been something to do with the 2020 election because I know he used the word ‘lost,’ and I distinctly remember saying, ‘Wow, I never thought I’d hear you say that,’” Maher explained. “He didn’t get mad. He’s much more self-aware than he lets on in public.”

At one point, Trump pointed to a portrait of the late President Ronald Reagan, claiming that the “best thing about him” was his hair.

“I said, ‘Well, there was also that whole bringing down communism thing.’ I was waiting for the Diet Coke button to be pushed and I go through the trap door, but no, he laughed. He got it,” Maher said, commenting on how genuine Trump’s laughter was and how much more “measured” he was in private.

The comedian raised the question of dogs, noting that many previous presidents had kept them at the White House. Trump argued that they’d done so for political reasons, prompting Maher to object that some people just like dogs.

“[Trump said], ‘Oh yeah, okay, that’s true,'” Maher recalled. “I’m telling you it happened!”

Maher did not withhold criticism, however, saying, “It doesn’t matter who he is at a private dinner with a comedian; it matters who he is on the world stage. … Why can’t we get the guy I met to be the public guy?”