HBO Real Time host Bill Maher recapped his recent meeting with President Donald Trump on Friday’s show where he emphasized the importance of talking to people even if you disagree with them. He also claimed that Trump, in private, is quite personable as contrasted with the more combative public persona that people either love or hate. However, Washington Post foreign policy columnist Josh Rogin was not a fan as he showered Maher with praise despite claiming he fell “into the trap,” leading Maher to shoot back “you don’t have to patronize me, dude.”
After Rogin’s fellow panelist Piers Morgan expressed his agreement that there is a difference between private and public Trump, Rogin sought to counter, “Counterpoint? You know, Bill, I think you're right in saying that people make too much of this. Okay, it’s not the Yalta Summit; you're not Churchill, Kid Rock is not Stalin. Trump, sure as shit, isn't FDR, okay, so yes, I believe too much has been made about this but I think you've fallen into the trap, I think I represent 99 percent of the internet when I say this is that you have played the game of proximity is principal.”
“Millions of liberals’ sphincters just tightened.” On his first show since having dinner with President Trump, @BillMaher recounted how he gave Trump a “list of almost 60 different insulting epithets the President has said about me. Things like ‘stupid,’ ‘dummy’... ‘sick,’ ‘sad,’… pic.twitter.com/oOrMfjOYCC
— Brent Baker 🇺🇲🇺🇦 🇮🇱 (@BrentHBaker) April 12, 2025
Rogin sought to insulate himself from blowback by making sure to add, “what people are worried about -- it's not your motivation, we believe you, we love you, everybody loves Bill, right? So, I'm not questioning motivation, I’m questioning Trump’s, okay and if we can say that you went there in good faith, but maybe, just maybe he wasn't there in good faith. I mean, you sold him on the Iran deal, and he took it in, give me a break, okay, so the idea here is that your motivation is sound but what's the impact? And I think a lot of people out there, fans of yours, people who love you, people who are fans of you, like me—”
And @BillMaher concluded: “My favorite part of the whole night was we were standing in [Clinton’s] blow job room” and “he said I’ve heard from a lot of people who really like that we’re having this dinner. Not all but a lot to. And I said: same....We agreed the people who don’t… pic.twitter.com/wMWkGPvyMU
— Brent Baker 🇺🇲🇺🇦 🇮🇱 (@BrentHBaker) April 12, 2025
Getting a little annoyed, Maher interjected, “You don't have to patronize me, dude. I don't know you, I never met you, not everybody has to like it.”
Of all the things Rogin could’ve mentioned, he brought up the Iran nuclear deal. For several years, Trump has talked about the need for a new and better deal and on Saturday, American and Iranian officials began negotiations to that end. Time will tell how successful those talks will be.
As it was, Maher continued, “That's what we said, there are people who didn't want to happen at all, you sound like one of them. It's okay.”
He also asked, “Did you hear what I said? What is the alternative to not talking? Just sitting at your lunch table and don’t talk to anybody?”
After Rogin tried to defend himself by claiming he has interviewed Trump, Maher claimed a conversation and an interview are not the same thing. That led Rogin to claim, “I agree with the principle of engagement. I’m just saying from his perspective, you have to understand, that people who out there know, all Americans know, that for him this was a PR stunt and in his view of you were a prop in that PR stunt.”
Neither Trump nor Maher will likely come away greatly changed because of their meeting, but that wasn’t the point. Maher makes an effort of talking to people he doesn’t always agree with—earlier in this episode he interviewed Steve Bannon—and contrary to Rogin’s claim, Trump doesn’t gain much from talking to Maher. The rest of the late night comedy shows could take a lesson from the Maher-Trump meeting and actually try talking to a Republican.
Here is a transcript for the April 11 show:
HBO Real Time with Bill Maher
4/11/2025
10:32 PM ET
JOSH ROGIN: Counterpoint? You know, Bill, I think you're right in saying that people make too much of this. Okay, it’s not the Yalta Summit; you're not Churchill, Kid Rock is not Stalin. Trump, sure as shit, isn't FDR, okay, so yes, I believe too much has been made about this but I think you've fallen into the trap. I think I represent 99 percent of the internet when I say this is that you have played the game of proximity is principal and what people are worried about — it's not your motivation, we believe you, we love you, everybody loves Bill, right?
So, I'm not questioning motivation, I’m questioning Trump’s, okay? And if we can say that you went there in good faith, but maybe, just maybe he wasn't there in good faith. I mean, you sold him on the Iran deal and he took it in, give me a break, okay? So the idea here is that your motivation is sound but what's the impact? And I think a lot of people out there, fans of yours, people who love you, people who are fans of you, like me—
BILL MAHER: You don't have to patronize me, dude—
ROGIN: Okay. Fair enough.
MAHER: — I don't know you, I never met you, not everybody has to like it.
ROGIN: I’m just saying that this comes from a place of love. All I'm saying--
MAHER: That's what we said, there are people who didn't want it to happen at all, you sound like one of them. It's okay.
ROGIN: No, no.
MAHER: Did you hear what I said?
ROGIN: Yeah.
MAHER: What is the alternative to not talking? Just sitting at your lunch table and don’t talk to anybody?
ROGIN: I’ve talked to him, I’ve interviewed Trump, Piers as interviewed Trump—
MAHER: This was not an interview. This was not an interview.
ROGIN: I agree with the principle of engagement. I’m just saying, from his perspective, you have to understand, that people out there know, all Americans know, that for him this was a PR stunt, and in his view, you were a prop in that PR stunt.
